


Carry the World

by kuroneko1815



Series: Narutails [5]
Category: Naruto, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: BAMF Bakugou Katsuki, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, BAMF Tsubaki, Class 1A learns to be a team, Dadzawa, Dadzawa is a proud dad, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara is Shouto, Gen, Good Sibling Todoroki Touya, Hatsume and Tsubaki spells TROUBLE, Hatsume&Tsubaki were destined as platonic soulmates, Lawyer Todoroki Touya, Naruto is Tsubaki, Overprotective Bakugou Katsuki, Protective Todoroki Touya, Reincarnation, Sasuke is Katsuki, Teamwork, think of the chaos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 53,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27681139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroneko1815/pseuds/kuroneko1815
Summary: Once upon a time, Shinobi were a prominent and integral part of society, able to wield and mold chakra but those days were long gone, practically non-existent from time's almost collapse but some remnants still remain. The Bakugou Family's twin children Katsuki and Tsubaki are prime examples of those remnants. Bakugou Mitsuki (nee Nara) might not be able to wield her family's quirk but her children sure as hell can and her parents are going to train her children and her little nephew Izuku to be the prime example of a three-man shinobi team before unleashing them out to the great wild world.Todoroki Shouto dreams of bloodshed and war on his worst nights and of a girl with a sunshine smile and sky blue eyes that he never can quite get a grasp on. Hazy dreams fade in the morning light but the longing and regret remain with him in all his days until the day he enters UA High. He didn't know who she was or who the boys by her side were but the longing to be beside her.Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring but the world wasn't ready for the Neo-Konoha-nins, the last Kazekage, or the Bijuu interfering in world affairs. Hero Society might not survive the oncoming storm.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku & Bakugou Tsubaki, Gaara/Uzumaki Naruto, Todoroki Shouto/Bakugou Tsubaki, Todoroki Shouto/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruko
Series: Narutails [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698040
Comments: 29
Kudos: 118
Collections: Identity Crisis





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Boku no hero academia or the Naruto franchise. Just saying.

Five-year-old Bakugou Tsubaki sat on the swings in the middle of the empty playground, petulant and angry at her twin brother Katsuki for a great number of reasons, not the least of which was being a big ‘poopie-head’ and not letting her play with him and the other boys during their scavenger hunts and his treatment of their best friend Izuku who had just recently been declared quirkless, hence her brother’s mean behavior towards the boy that might as well be their triplet. Rather than follow them from afar, she decided to go to the playground, the cellphone her mother entrusted to her just in her backpack waiting for the alarm to go off until it was time for her to go home. No need to let her parents know that she had a big fight with her twin.

“Stupid Kacchan! I-kun isn’t a deku!” She muttered angrily as she gently kicked her feet on the ground to let the swing move, her backpack just on the base of the frame by her side. “Stinky breath goblin!” She grumbled.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the men coming up behind her until it was too late. The hand on her mouth and the sensation of being pulled off the swings made her heart stop until she remembered what her grandpa had taught her. Tsubaki held her breath before kicking and punching back until the man dropped her, she knew that she was strong, the crater in her backyard that had been turned into a sunken garden came from a temper tantrum _before_ her quirk had even appeared was a testament to that.

She screamed her loudest, eyes catching sight of a man on the phone who immediately turned to her in shock before rushing to them as she, in turn, rushed to him, unfortunately, the other bad guy was faster and caught her. She got hit on the head and as the world darkened around her, she saw the man, heavily scarred, burst into blue flames.

* * *

Todoroki Touya was on the phone with his classmate discussing the project that had been assigned to them while he had been at the hospital when he heard the shrill scream of a terrified child. Head immediately turning to see a little blonde-haired girl running to him while being chased by no less than three masked men told him enough. Touya might have been discarded by his father in favor of his baby brother for being born a failure but he wasn’t so far gone in his bitterness and anger that he was just going to abandon the little girl who looked to be around Shoto’s age.

“Rin!” He snapped out as he rushed across the street, barely even glancing to see if there were any incoming cars. “Call the police, call the heroes! There’s a little girl being kidnapped!” He snapped out as he dropped the call.

Hellfire engulfing his body as his teeth ground against each other at the feeling of burning from inside out. He only had a few moments to stop them before his quirk caused him irreparable damage and as he fought, he mentally counted down until he hit his limit, but he kept on fighting. Just when he thought he'd won, a few more men showed up and as the pain became too much, he fainted.

* * *

Bakugou Mitsuki glanced at the clock as she waited for her children to return. They had gone exploring with a group of other children in the forest near their home. She was trying to give them some independence and had wanted Katsuki to start trying to mend things with Izuku-kun. Inko had been at the forest too but had watched over them from a distance. Her two children had left in the morning the short walk was one they knew well. The sound of the door opening and the shuffle of small feet alerted her that her children were home. She went out of the kitchen, ignoring the dread that had been growing in her in the last hour or two as she waited for the sound of another set of tiny feet. Frowning as she noted the absence of her daughter’s voice, she greeted her son with a smile.

“Welcome home, Katsuki!” She greeted. “Where’s your sister?”

Katsuki stared at her. “I told her to go home hours ago, I didn’t want a girl around while we were exploring. She left before Auntie Inko had even arrived with Deku.” He said with a shrug.

“You did WHAT?” She yelled out, her volatile temper getting the best of her as she slammed her fist onto the table, breaking it in half. “Katsuki! Why didn’t you go with her? She hasn’t come home yet!”

Her son paled before fear began to sink in. Her husband walked in through the door right after that. The cheerful smile that their daughter inherited falling immediately as his eyes caught sight of her. “What’s happened?”

“Katsuki sent Tsubaki home right after they got to the forest, she hasn’t arrived yet!” Mitsuki explained frantically.

Masaru’s eyes flew wide as he turned back towards the door, keys in hand. “Stay with Katsuki and call the police. I’ll drive around and see if I can find her.” He was out the door in no time.

Mitsuki lunged for the phone, ignoring her son’s attempts to talk to her. She didn’t wait for the person on the other end of the line to greet her. “My name is Mitsuki Bakugou and my five-year-old daughter is missing.”

* * *

Masaru drove around frantically around the neighborhood. His daughter wouldn’t go far, not when her own world was so little, spanning just a few blocks. His eyes caught sight of the flashing red and blue light of the police cars clustered around the playground his children played in quite frequently. Heart stopping as he pulled to the side, his eyes caught sight of his phone and he remembered the phones that he and his wife had presented to their children just the day before.

He tried calling Tsubaki’s phone but received no reply, so he turned on the tracking app that he and his wife had installed only for it to direct him into the playground. He got out of the car, shaking like a leaf as he approached what looked to be a battlefield, scorch marks on the ground and melted metal and stone to the side. An officer stopped him as he tried to get in, his fingers on the call button for his daughter’s number.

“Sir, you can’t be here. Please step back.”

“What happened?”

“Sir please…”

“What happened?” He asked as he grabbed the officer, the phone set to auto redial. “My daughter hasn’t come home, and her phone says she’s here.”

The officer looked at him grimly but before he could even reply the call connected and Masaru felt relief as he hastily shoved the phone to his ear. “Sweetheart, where are you?”

“Who is this?” It was a man’s voice, and just like that his relief was ripped from him. “This is Detective Tanuma. Who is this?”

“This is Bakugou Masura, where is my daughter?”

“Where are you Mr. Bakugou?” There was something apologetic and sorrowful in the Detective’s tone.

“Right outside the park.” Masura whispered softly as he caught sight of the Detective on the phone holding his daughter’s orange backpack.

The detective approached him but Masura couldn’t take his eyes off of the backpack and the little fox and toad stickers decorating it. He wanted to run away, he wanted to fall over, to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

“Mr. Bakugou?” There was sympathy and compassion in his tone but he didn’t want it.

“What happened? Where’s my baby girl?”

“I’m sorry but we believe she’s been taken but we’re doing everything we can to find her.” The man said as soothingly as he could.

Masura turned to stare at him, his heart felt as though it was being held in a vice-like grip. “How do you know?”

“We received a call about a kidnapping in progress about half an hour or so, a middle schooler called the department after his classmate who he had been on the phone with had told him to. From what we could figure out, it seemed as though the boy had tried to interfere and was taken as well.”

Masura’s world shattered.

* * *

Fuyumi picked up the phone absentmindedly as her eyes tracked Shoto’s silent steps to his room with Natsuo ushering their baby brother through the hallway. The house was very quiet and seemed to be quite empty. Their mother was in _that_ place, their father was out working, and Touya-nii still hadn’t arrived home. “Todoroki residence, how may I help you?” She answered.

“Is Touya there? Is he okay?” The questions were spat out in a panic.

Fuyumi felt her world standstill. “No, w-why?”

“He told me to call the police because there was a little girl being kidnapped before he dropped the call. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“He hasn’t come home yet.” She said before dropping the call and hastily dialing her brother’s number.

“Touya-nii where are you?”

“This is Detective Tamura, who am I speaking to?”

“Todoroki Fuyumi.” She answered as calmly as possible. “May I speak to my brother, please?” She forced herself to use the manners her mother had instilled in her. If the Detective was there then Touya was probably just being held up for using his quirk to save the little girl.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible. I’d like to ask you to call your parents please.”

“They aren’t here.” Fuyumi said, heart thudding so fast that it felt like it was ready to leap out of her chest.

“Understood. Thank you for telling me, and please tell them to get in contact with the police as soon as they can.”

Fuyumi slid down to the floor as she tried to call her father’s phone but he wasn’t picking up. ‘ _Too busy being a hero and trying to get the number 1 spot to even be a decent father.’_ Fuyumi thought spitefully as she thought of her little brother’s tears and the burn on his face, of her mother’s frantic attempts at trying to mitigate the damage as she rocked Shoto and uttered hysterical cries of _Imsorrysosorrypleasesorry_ over and over again, of Touya-nii’s body covered with burns and eyes filled with bitterness-hurt-anger.

It went to voice mail. She took a deep breath. “Dad! Call me back! I’m heading to the police station. Something’s happened to Touya-nii!”

She dropped the call and stood up. “Natsuo! Stay here and watch over Shoto, I have to go somewhere.” She yelled as she slid her shoes on and grabbed her bag.

* * *

Inko arrived at the Bakugou residence with her son in tow, letting herself in with her key and saw her best friend crying in her husband’s arms as Mitsuki’s parents, Akio and Haru Nara sat on the opposite couch, faces grim and eyes red. She ushered her son forward before pointing upstairs. Izuku nodded and her baby ran up the stairs with their clothes.

Her best friend needed her, so she wasn’t going anywhere, neither was Izuku. Right now, the Bakugou’s needed the Midoriyas’ for support and she had no intention of letting them down.

* * *

“Kacchan.” Izuku’s voice called out softly as the light from the hallway streamed into his room from the open door.

Katsuki curled up tighter. “Go away Deku!” He said but there was no real heat to his words. He didn’t want to be left alone but the awful feeling of guilt was drowning him. _‘It’s my fault! Oh, Kami! What if I don’t see her again! My fault!’_ Kept going round and round in his head as he held his tears back.

He felt Deku’s arms wrap around him and felt the other boy shake before the torrent of tears began and Katsuki’s resolve faltered and he began to cry. “Do you think she’s okay?” He asked quietly.

“I don’t know, Kacchan.” Deku said. “But I hope so.”

“This is all my fault.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I shouldn’t have sent her away.”

“Kacchan didn’t know this was going to happen.” Deku insisted. Why was he still here? Katsuki couldn’t understand it. He was horrible to his best friend but the other boy was still here. _‘I hate you, Kacchan! You’re a big meanie!’_ Tsubaki’s voice echoed in his mind, those had been the last words she had said to him before she turned around and ran away crying. He had just smiled when he saw her leave but he didn’t feel like smiling now. He rubbed his eyes again and again, trying to stop the itching and the stinging he’d been feeling. Deku finally looked at him and his eyes widened.

“Kacchan, you’re eyes.”

* * *

Tsubaki woke up shivering from the cold as unknown voices flitted through the air. She whimpered as she realized that she wasn’t in her room. She glanced around the room and saw the man that had come to help her, he looked horrible with fresh burns around his body. She crawled to him, hand gently touching his forehead, the only part of him that didn’t seem to be injured. Blonde hair set in twin tails and honey colored eyes flashed before her eyes. _‘This is how we heal, Naru.’_ She said tiredly as her hands began to glow a soft green.

Tsubaki took a deep breath and gave in, felt the strong hands guiding her and reached deep into her, trusting the guiding voice’s instructions as her hand hovered over the burns, watching with wide eyes as the wounds began to heal but the skin was still raw. _‘If all else fails, you’re still an Uzumaki, share your chakra with them.’_

Teal eyes fluttered open and she smiled but continued to heal.

* * *

Touya groaned as he dazedly eyed his surroundings before freezing as he caught sight of the little girl sitting beside him with glowing green hands and the memories snapped into place. _‘I guess I was kidnapped, too.’_

He eyed the little girl and watched as her hands hovered over his left arm, the pain subsiding as new skin began to grow on it, pink and healthy but still sensitive. A healing quirk, no wonder she had been taken. “Are you alright, Mister?” She whispered.

“I am now, little one. Thank you.” He eyed her again. “What’s your name? How old are you?”

“I’m Tsubaki and I’m five!” She said as she held up the appropriate number of fingers. So just about as old as Shoto. Touya’s heart ached as he thought of his little brother and his tears after each training session with their father.

“My name is Touya.” He told her before he sat up and pulled the shivering little girl close. His lips pursed as his eyes scanned his surroundings, trying to find a way out of the situation he had found himself in.

* * *

It took her father hours to call her back and to make it to the station and even then, it wasn’t Todoroki Enji that entered but Endeavor. She answered his questions as succinctly as possible before sending him to the Detective in charge of the case. She was too young in the eyes of the law for them to answer her questions.

“Fuyumi, head home. I’ll handle this.” Endeavor said. She eyed her father before nodding tiredly. She wondered if he really cared for one of his failed children or if this was all just an act but she couldn’t really bring herself to care right now.

* * *

The days dragged on for both families with Endeavor tearing apart the city for any clues and Fuyumi keeping both of her siblings at home. Groceries were delivered and the doors and windows shut to the swarm of the media. The same could be said for the Bakugou household, the television shut off and the phone lines unplugged. Their phones programmed not to accept any calls except pre-approved ones. Inko went in and out to run the errands needed by the family, glaring at the reporters that just wouldn’t leave them alone.

Cry baby she may be, but she had a spine of steel when necessary. She ignored all questions thrown at her as she counted the days since she had last seen her niece. She glanced around and saw the tighter than usual hold that parents had on their children and she knew that the people of their neighborhood was just as shaken as her surrogate family were. Something like this was unheard of in their area.

She closed the door to the Bakugou residence and listened to the unnatural quiet in the usually lively and explosive home, hearing only the sobbing of Haru and Mitsuki in the background. _‘Please let this nightmare end, please bring her back safely.’_ She prayed.

* * *

A week into their kidnapping, Touya finally found the perfect opportunity to escape. Despite not being in prime condition yet, he knew this was likely the only chance they would get. He shook Tsubaki awake and gestured for her to be quiet. He lifted her up, wincing a bit as her clothes rubbed on the raw skin. “Nii-chan hurt?” She asked softly.

“I’ll be fine.”

She shook her head and eyed him speculatively. As he opened his mouth to assure her that he was okay, she shoved her arm into his mouth accidentally biting it. She held it still and despite seeing her flinch she kept it there, hand going to cover his nose, he tried to breathe with his mouth but something else rushed through him and a soft blue glow engulfed him, she let go of his nose but didn’t push his mouth away, his eyes drifted to his arm and saw that the skin was nearly completely healed, just slightly discolored but there was no pain anywhere.

The arm dropped and his eyes snapped to her face, sweat covering her face as she panted and dropped her head on his shoulder. Right, healing quirk. He felt better than he had in years and definitely more energetic. He held out his hand and let out a controlled blast of his hellfire and watched the bars melt. The capture tape melting off as he began to silently walk out of the door, keeping his senses on alert and trying to hear if there were any other captives. He walked past empty cells and clenched his jaws. There had been at least four other children here the day before.

Tsubaki lifted her head up and pointed down one of the hallways. Had she been awake when they were brought here? If so, then she would have seen where the exit was. There were multiple doors along the way but she shook her head at most of them except for one. She gestured him there and he found himself in an office.

Hands covered his mouth immediately. “Nii-chan, People come in here and disappear there.” She said as she pointed to a door at the end of the room.

“How do you know?” He asked her quietly.

“Sense it, saw it.” She said with a frown. “Light go this way then go out and lots of lights walking by.”

Okay. What? Whatever, Touya just wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. Eyes darting around the office, he opened a drawer and swiped a few of the folders. “If you can… uh… sense it, you said no to the other rooms. Are there people there?” He asked. She nodded solemnly. “Bad people, light is icky, feels yucky.”

So maybe her quirk wasn’t specifically healing but something to do with lifeforce manipulation? That was a terrifying thought. He walked to the door that supposedly led outside before an alarm sounded and the sounds of footsteps rushing their way could be heard. Fuck it! Touya summoned an even hotter flame to blast out the door and the wall while simultaneously forming a ring of fire at their back to separate them and the men that had just stormed in.

He didn’t feel the least bit guilty when he realized that the wall had collapsed on a few of the kidnappers. He ran out to the alleyway as fast as he could avoiding the bullets and the attacks sent by the villains as people dodged and screamed. His eyes caught sight of Eraserhead and Sir Nighteye rushing to the scene as people quickly fled.

“Stop!” Eraserhead called out but he just kept running past them.

“Can’t talk now! Too busy running for my life. You’ve got this right?” He yelled out as he ducked into a building six doors down.

* * *

He watched by the window still holding Tsubaki in his arms as the heroes battled against the villains. He only stepped out when the police arrived. One of the officers took one look at him and stared at him in shock before his eyes turned to the little girl clinging to him.

“Y…you are…”

“Todoroki Touya and this little one is Tsubaki. I need you to contact our parents.” He said as stoic as he could. If there was one thing his father’s training was good for, it was for projecting an unaffected air.

The officer nodded. Touya tuned him out as he sagged in relief, wincing as his skin chafed from contact with his clothes. He might’ve overdone it again.

* * *

The phone rang in the Bakugou household breaking the oppressive silence that had been present for a week. Akio Nara answered the phone for his daughter. “Hello?”

“Is this the Bakugou Residence?”

“Yes.” Akio confirmed.

“This is Detective Tanuma, we have Tsubaki, their taking her to Musutafu General Hospital to get her checked out but she appears to be fine.” The man said happily.

“Thank you, we’ll be there soon.” Akio said, voice thick with relief.

“They found her.” He said as he turned to everyone. “They’re taking her to Musutafu General for a checkup, but they said that she seems to be fine.”

And just like that, life was breathed back into the home as everyone rushed off to get ready, changing from the sleep clothes that they’d all been wearing for what feels like ages and rushing to their cars.

* * *

“Mommy! Daddy!” Tsubaki squealed as her parents ran into her room. She had a hard time breathing after that as they practically crushed her under their hugs. Her eyes turned to her brother and I-kun. She smiled brightly at them and they scrambled to her bed for a hug.

Her brother’s eyes flickered, a tomoe appearing as they stared at each other. “Kacchan’s eyes are weird.” She said before it flickered away again. A voice whispering in her ear. _‘Sharingan.’_

She saw her grandparents pale as they stared at Katsuki with wide eyes. “Katsuki… you… you unlocked the Sharingan?” Her grandfather said with apprehensive awe.

“What now?” Masura asked.

“I’ll explain everything when we get home.” Akio assured them before turning to the doctor that had just walked in.

“Well, that won’t be until tomorrow. We want to keep her here to make sure there aren’t any late-onset quirk injuries.” The doctor said before she led her parents away for a talk.

* * *

Shoto stared up at Touya-nii with wide eyes as he patted the bed beside him. “To-niisan?”

“Hey Shoto, why don’t you come up here and give me a hug?” Shoto stared at his brother, it had been a while since his brother had willingly gone near him. Not since their Father had begun training him. He nodded and climbed onto the bed.

His eyes caught sight of the little girl in the other room. She was peeking out the door and staring at his brother. “That’s Tsubaki, she was along for the whole adventure.” To-niisan explained as he waved at the girl who smiled back and gave an energetic wave before being picked up by a woman with green hair. Red eyes sparkling with joy as she was drawn into a hug.

That night he dreamt of cold and scornful gazes, bloodthirsty whispers of _kill, blood, drench the sand, my son do it for me. Mother wants blood._ Shoto shivered and whimpered in his sleep before his dreams showed him golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes, whiskered cheeks, and a warm sunshine smile, his breathing evened out and he calmed instantly.

* * *

Tsubaki stared at her savior from where she stood by the door, he was surrounded by his brothers and sister, but her focus was on the scarred little boy with red and white hair. Something about called to her as red hair and teal eyes lined with dark circles flashed in her mind. Regret and longing shot through her before she pushed it away. She saw Touya-san wave to her, so she waved back and gave a bright smile before Auntie Inko pulled her into a hug.

* * *

Touya sighed as he eyed his siblings. Could they last without him there? He had been contemplating running away for some time now, but this latest adventure had shown him that things weren’t as safe as he thought it could be. Shoto walked home from school more often than not, nowadays and it could have just as easily been his baby brother that had been taken. And Fuyumi, his only sister had taken on their mother’s roles. Natsuo was too young to really be of help and the less said about their father’s form of parenting the better. No, it was better for him to stay and take care of them, at least until Shoto was older.

* * *

A man with vulpine features walked through the streets of Tokyo before he sighed. His siblings were going to meet him here for their 10-year reunion as they’d done for the last few centuries. This was the only time that they allowed themselves close to Ashura, no Naru, and Sasuke’s final resting place.

As he walked past a partially collapsed building, he froze. The familiar feel of chakra use humming through the air but it was the presence that had him wide-eyed. That had been Naruto’s presence. Could it be? Could she really have reincarnated… again? He reached out to the mental link shared by all his tailed siblings and called those that were already in the city to investigate the chakra presence. He needed to know that he wasn’t just going crazy.

* * *

“You’re doing much better than I expected.” Recovery Girl said as she eyed him. “I thought your body had already reached its limits from your quirk use and yet your skin simply looks like it’s been sunburned.”

Touya cast a small smile before his eyes flickered to the room next door. “My little adventure buddy healed me before she would even let me execute our escape plan.”

“Healing Quirk…” Recovery Girl said contemplatively as she eyed the closed door. She shuffled through the paperwork she had with her before frowning. “The girl’s quirk is limited as chakra which is apparently a form of energy manipulation quirk. It doesn’t say anything about healing.”

He blinked and tilted his head as he eyed the woman again then the door and back to the pro hero. “Could she have been manipulating my cells? Infusing energy into it to speed up the healing?” He asked hesitantly.

Recovery Girl sighed before shaking her head. “It’s possible but I won’t know until I speak to the girl and her family.” She eyed him again. “Get some rest, boy. And don’t even think about using your quirk for at least a week.”

“Got it.”

* * *

Katsuki was asleep, curled around his twin on her hospital bed, he pitched a hissy when they tried to separate them earlier to go home and he didn’t allow Deku to go home either. He let the other boy sleep on the other side of the bed. The adults had simply shrugged at them, too tired to really care and in their eyes, too adorable to be separated. So Katsuki may have played up the cute factor a little too much, Tsubaki and Izuku playing along to the point where the adults in their life were left cooing messes but you do what you gotta do.

He dreamt of red eyes and purple eyes. Of war and bloodshed, a little girl with dark hair that looked at him so trusting, so awed that it made him want to be a better person. He dreamt of a sister that was and wasn’t his. Blonde hair and blue eyes with whiskered cheeks and a smile always at the ready. He dreamt of…

_“Sasuke, it’s worse than the rise in chakra null children. Time is collapsing in on itself.” Tired blue eyes and an out of place frown greeted him. “The last act of the Otsotsuki clan was to set off a device that has begun to destabilize time. Chakra null children… well… we should have seen the signs with Lee, this one was a long time coming. We’ve abused it to the point where chakra’s nature itself had become twisted and turned on itself… I don’t know if we can fix **that,** but we can survive without its presence in our world… we can’t survive the complete erasure of time.”_

_Katsuki’s hands flexed as he stood straight. “Understood. Do you want me to form a team?”_

_A grateful smile, ‘she hasn’t slept in weeks.’ Whispers a voice in his head. “Take Shikadai with you. My eldest was the one to figure out what was happening.”_

_“I’ll leave at once.”_

_“You’ll leave tomorrow.” The tone told him that there was no point in arguing. “Spend some time with your family.”_

Katsuki jolted awake as his sister’s leg hit him in the stomach. He groaned before falling asleep as she pulled him closer to cuddle, his dream forgotten.

* * *

Bakugou Mitsuki stared at Recovery Girl and her assessment that perhaps her children needed some trauma counseling after this. Yeah, no shit. She had already looked up the best of the best and had booked them an initial visit. Not just for the kids, oh no, it’ll probably take Masaru and her awhile before they’re able to be completely confident about not monitoring the children 24/7.

“Can you tell me more about your daughter’s quirk?” the Pro Hero asked.

Her father stepped in, Mitsuki didn’t have the family’s quirk which meant that she had a lesser understanding of it than her father did. “It’s called chakra or energy manipulation and conversion. Katsuki has also shown some of it to a lesser extent. It can be used to manipulate the elements, and given a person’s affinity and skill, perhaps even heal someone. We had an ancestor a few generations back before registrations happened, that could heal people.” Akio explained before he hmmed.

“Katsuki is more prone to the offensive type of energy manipulation while Tsubaki is flexible in that she probably has the potential for offense, defense, and healing but this type of quirk is one that could kill the user if they use up all the energy in their body.”

“I see, so it has some drawbacks.” Recovery Girl mumbled before staring at the four adults gathered in the family room, the green-haired woman was watching the children. “I would like to help your granddaughter foster the healing aspect of her quirk and to mentor her…”

“No.” Masura said immediately as everyone turned to him. “Not right now, at least. I’m not going to push my daughter into a hero course when she could just as easily have her own dream. If she decides she wants to be a hero, then you can present your case to her but… not until she’s old enough to make informed decisions.”

Mitsuki smiles at her husband, usually so soft but right now he was speaking in a curt and strict tone. Laying down the terms and arguing for their daughter to grow up as any normal child would. She sees the old hero open her mouth and Mitsuki’s temper rises before she shoves it down, refuses to punch the wall and chance a hole appearing and… knowing her luck it would be a load-bearing one too. Thankfully, her mother steps in.

“Rather than you mentoring the **children** ,” Her mother emphasizes the fact that she has two grandchildren, three if you count Izuku (which her mother does), capable and probably as willing and eager to become heroes. “Wouldn’t it be better for them to learn from my husband how to control it rather than risk their lives due to chakra exhaustion? My mother in law told me that a person could just drop dead after one technique despite being okay one moment because of poor control.”

The Pro Hero sighs and shakes her head. “Very well. Would it be alright to at least check-in and see if the girl does have an aptitude for healing and medicine?”

“Should she show an interest, we will call you.” Mitsuki tells the old woman calmly. “I believe it’s best if I get back to the children. Excuse me.” And with that, she turned around and walked back to her baby’s room.

* * *

_“I should say congratulations but you and I both know that it will be as insincere as Sai’s complements.”_

_Naruto turned around, steadying herself as she shifted her wedding kimono, to meet the teal eyes of the Kazekage. “Hello, Gaara.” She said with a soft sad smile._

_“You look beautiful as always.” Her friend eyed her with just about as much longing as she probably felt._

_“Gaara… I…”_

_Her friend shook his head. What did he think about her marrying his dead sister’s fiancé? “It never would have worked between us. Especially not from the moment you were made Hokage Elect.”_

_“I know, the needs of the village and the clans must come first.” Her mouth tasted bitter at her own words. It wasn’t fair to anyone but at least she was marrying a friend who respected her, and they had the misfortune of falling in love with two remarkable siblings._

_The redhead gave her one last smile before turning around. “I should go find my seat.”_

_“Gaara.” She called out before he could open the door. “Thank you, for coming.” He didn’t turn back but he nodded all the same._

_Sasuke was standing right outside the door and he glanced at the two of them before stepping inside and closing the door. “Are you sure about this?”_

_“Needs must and all. Do you not trust Shikamaru? Are you angry about this?” She asked as she cast a worried glance at her brother in all but blood._

_“No.” Sasuke said. “I trust Shikamaru, I know he’ll be good to you and whatever children you have together but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re not marrying for love.”_

_Naruto sighed as she glanced out of the window. “Love can grow. Right now, we respect each other and we’re fond of one another.”_

_“Fond as friends and if love hasn’t grown between the two of you in the years you’ve known one another then love might not grow at all.” Sasuke stepped closer. “If I could give you a chance at marrying the man you love, I would.”_

_She shook her head. “Don’t do this now.” She pleaded as her eyes met his dark and sad. “I… thank you for agreeing to walk me down the aisle.”_

_“I’ll always be here for you, little sister.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, this was something that popped into my mind at 3 in the morning and I've been writing it down ever since. Basically, Touya stays and becomes a cross between brother and father figure to Shouto. Does it change things? Not as much in the beginning but towards the future of the story... probably. In this story, Naruto married Shikamaru despite being in love with Gaara for the sake of the village. She was Hokage and he was Kazekage, their positions demanded that they marry within their own villages. Temari died during the war against Kaguya and Madara but Shikamaru still needed a wife. Naruto needed a husband to ensure the continuity of the Senju and Uzumaki clans hence the two of them getting married.
> 
> The war against the Otsotsuki Clan ended with severe repercussions. A weapon was used to destabilize time practically erasing a lot of modern advancements and causing technology to fail, effectively sending them to the dark ages. Add that to the fact that the rate of chakra nulls (or people without chakra coils) being born had been rising even before the fourth shinobi war... it was practically catastrophic. By the end of the Otsotsuki War, all of the villages had condensed into one for the sheer lack of shinobi left. Naruto made the decision to open up the academy to chakra nulls and worked to preserve whatever information she could about chakra. Given that Uzumakis were long-lived and Tsunade was at least a quarter Uzumaki... she had lived to a ripe old age of a hundred and forty. Naruto lived to two hundred and three. She died surrounded by her grandson and his family as well as the Bijuu who were tasked with watching over the world and over her family. By the start of the story, the Nara Clan were the only ones left with chakra because all of the other clans had married into it.
> 
> Anyway let me know what you guys think. This was more of an on the fly just write kind of story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which All Might discovers his successor, the secret history of the world, and makes a life long friend.
> 
> Or the Bakugou twins drop in while All Might gives his offer to their not-triplet brother Izuku and force All Might into a meeting with the family where they trade a secret for his secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't own Naruto or My hero academia.

“You were nearly late; did you get caught up in that villain attack… again?” Tsuchan asked as she turned her body around. Kacchan turned to him as well, brow raised as Izuku grinned sheepishly while holding up his latest notebook.

“Yeah, there’s a new hero and I got caught up in the analysis.”

Tsubaki frowned at him, head tilted to the side. “Were you taking pictures? I saw some posted on the internet and Mt. Lady’s very pretty, I bet she’ll have a lot of fanboys.” A mischievous smile spread across her face. “Were you late because you were too busy ogling her? Why, Midoriya Izuku! I never pegged you for a pervert!”

Izuku felt his face heat up as he began to shake his head. “No… no… it was just an analysis, I swear!”

“Analysis…” Kacchan began with a devious smirk. “or **Analysis**.”

He sputtered and tried to protest again, eyes glancing helplessly around the classroom for any distraction when his eyes caught one. It was Daisuke, a boy from another class and one of the more popular ones in school, walking towards them, confidence in his stride. His eyes focused on Tsubaki. Izuku flicked his eyes to Kacchan. _‘Heads up. We have another one.’_ He thought to his friend as his eyes glanced to the side to indicate the incoming boy. His best friend gave a small nod before turning to the boy with murder in his eyes.

Kacchan’s face became dark and dangerous as he lifted his right hand, little sparks dancing between his fingers. Daisuke blanched but continued on, tapping Tsuchan on the shoulder. His sister in all but blood turned to the boy, a smile on her face.

“Hi!” She said with a bright smile.

“Hello, Tsubaki.” Daisuke said with a smile though sweat was beginning to form on his forehead as he threw cautious glances at Katsuki.

Tsubaki stared at him. “Who are you?”

And that pretty much set the tone for the conversation that followed. Izuku could understand Kacchan’s overprotectiveness given what happened when they were five and he would even be the first to admit that he had helped his friend scare away boys who tried to ask Tsuchan out but sometimes he felt like they really didn’t need to.

“Eh? Do you need help with your schoolwork? You can join Kacchan, I-kun, and I for a study session.” She said happily. Izuku winced. She was still as clueless to boys as she ever was. Kacchan’s face turned positively demonic, a tomoe appearing in his eyes. The boy retreated quickly after that. Izuku just sighed.

“Oi Deku,” Kacchan called out before Tsubaki could even note the weirdness of the interaction. “I’m heading out to the arcades with some of the guys. Wanna come?”

“No thanks, Kacchan. I wanna get some more information on the new hero.”

Kacchan shrugged at him. “Suit yourself.”

Tsuchan pouted at her twin probably for not being invited but then again, Izuku knew that she had some club activity so she couldn’t go anyway and Kacchan probably knew it too, Kacchan knew her entire schedule back and forth. He didn’t understand why she was so upset about it.

* * *

So, the walk home could’ve gone better. Getting attacked by the sludge villain and knocked unconscious, not cool, getting saved by All Might and tagging along (note: jumping and clinging to his leg mid-flight) awesome. Getting told that he couldn’t be a hero without a quirk was… disappointing and heartbreaking. All Might had given him the advice of considering the Police Force, something that he had toyed with a few times but some part of him was silently hopeful he could become a hero without a quirk. After all, what were all those shinobi training for?

He bit his lip as he walked with his head down, fingers clutching his notebook and trying to ignore the sounds of the fight even though it was getting louder and louder with every step he took. The sound of another explosion made him shiver as something nagged at his senses. It was one of those things that he developed through continuous exposure to the twins that sense that told him when something was wrong with either of them or if they’re going to be mischievous. Right now, his Bakugou sense was saying _Kacchan is in danger!!!_

Huh. Could his Bakugou twin sense and telepathy be counted as a quirk? Who was he kidding? It would never fly in public. The walk light turned green and Izuku took off into a run, following that pull closer and closer to the sounds of explosions. Maybe that should’ve given him a clue.

He stopped just behind the crowd, eyes growing wide and heart dropping at the sight of the sludge villain from earlier, randomly producing explosions that seemed oddly familiar. And then he caught sight of the blonde hair trapped in it and red eyes gleaming in anger. He took off before he could even understand what he was doing. He threw his bag at the villain, dodging and avoiding the explosions sent his way with expert ease (shinobi training with the Nara family had put him through something slightly similar after all) and then began to pull at the sludge until Kaachan could at least breathe.

“Get her the fuck away from this place.” Kaachan snapped, eyes wide with horror as his own senses warned of the approach of the other Bakugou twin. He dodged a blow from the villain and held his hand to the side, grabbing the inhumanly fast Tsubaki and pulling her away. The recoil was a bit much and they tumbled to the ground. All Might appeared and beat the villain back with a single punch. The resulting blast created a tornado that scattered the villain and knocked Kaachan out.

Thankfully Tsubaki didn’t flip her shit when she saw her twin knocked out, but it was a close thing. The only thing that saved them from charges relating to the destruction of public property was the fact that she was a sensor and could probably sense that her brother was okay (for a given value of okay, at least). Granted what she did next to wake up her brother was a bit questionable in the eyes of the others but at least Kaachan could take it. That didn’t mean he didn’t wince when she bitch-slapped her twin into the waking world.

Kacchan sat up groaning as he touched the red handprint on his face before Tsubaki threw her arms around him, pulling him along into the hug. It had been a while since he’d felt the crush of doom from Tsuchan but it brought back the trauma that was shinobi training (at least the early days when they thought they were going to die). Memories, so many memories of cliffs and shurikens and all other manner of dangerous pointy objects flashed through his mind along with the sadistic smiles of grandpa and grandma Nara.

Of course, he ended up getting chewed up by the heroes, Kacchan was praised for his cool quirk, and no one wanted to even try Tsuchan’s patience, not with the glowing red handprint on her brother’s face still showing or the glare she gave to people who kept getting in her way while she was giving her brother a thorough checkup.

The walk back home was once again interrupted right after separating from the twins. It was All Might, again. But at least there wasn’t a villain about to attack him this time. Small mercies and small victories because Izuku really wasn’t in the mood for villain encounter partie trois, not after the day he’s had. Having his dream shattered by his hero, the villain attacks, getting castigated by the police and the heroes, and Kacchan nearly dying was too much to pack into two hours. Okay so he was being a bit petty and a little bitter but right now he just wanted to plant his face into his sweet soft bed before the next training session with the twins tomorrow morning.

“I’ve come to thank you.” What? Maybe he should tune in to what the hero was actually saying. “You have the heart of a hero and I know you’ll be a good one. Your body moved automatically, you didn’t think, didn’t stop yourself. You could go far.”

Izuku felt his heart soar. There were few people who believed in his dreams, the twins, their parents, his mom, the Nara couple but that was it. No one else. And to hear All Might say that… it was everything he ever wanted.

“So…” All Might started as he stared him down. “Once in a lifetime offer, are you willing to inherit my quirk and all that it stands for? Are you willing to take on the burden that my powers would bestow on you?”

Was he? That was a serious question and one that needed to be thought through. But first, let’s just unpack what All Might had said about his quirk and its inheritability. As he began to dissect the speech, All Might stared at him and deadpanned. “Aren’t you thinking too much about that and focusing on the wrong aspect?”

Izuku started but nodded his head. Was he willing to inherit the responsibilities of the symbol of peace? But then… what was the point of being a hero if you were just there for the publicity and the money? He remembered the story of chakra and the last of the great shinobi heroes. Remembered that their sacrifices hadn’t stopped at the battlefield, he remembered the stories of political marriages to stop wars or to stabilize society. Remembered the stories of the time _before_ quirks when the heroes were the police and firemen and doctors.

All of them took oaths and held up to it despite the lack of glory and wealth. If he wanted to be a hero, quirk or no, he needed to be just as dedicated as the nameless heroes that kept society going. Being given All Might’s quirk just meant that he needed to work harder. Mind made up, Izuku nodded.

“Great, I’ll train you until I’ve deemed you ready to inherit my abilities.” All Might said with his grin, a bit creepy when he’s spitting out blood, but okay. “Now remember, you can’t tell anyone about this…”

“Hey, I-kun!” Tsubaki’s voice reached him and he turned around to see the twins standing on top of the fence. Perfectly balanced. What were they doing here?

“I told you Deku was alright.” Kacchan snarled before he turned a glare at All Might. “Although maybe you were right to worry.”

Tsuchan laughed. “Don’t be silly Kacchan. Despite looking like a person of dubious origins, that’s All Might.”

“No fucking way is that the Number 1 Hero.”

“It is so.” She protested. “I’m a sensor, remember. And he feels exactly like All Might. Though his quirk’s weird. It’s got traces of other people there or at least other quirks.”

Izuku began to laugh nervously as he eyed the twins before turning his eyes to the Pro Hero who was sweating heavily and was staring at the twins with a shiver of fear.

“So, what’s this about Deku inheriting your abilities?” Kaachan drawls. All Might begins coughing and gives his protests that _‘of course you heard us wrong, young one.’_ And _‘I believe you are just imagining things.’_

Tsuchan leans forward until she slips off the fence causing All Might to squeak and rush to catch her. Only, she lands on her feet and looks at him blandly with not a hair out of place. “I think that something like this needs to be given a great deal of thought with everything laid out on the table.”

The look she gives the two of them is nothing short of calculating, her face devoid of any emotions while Kaachan… no Katsuki lands softly beside his twin just as stoic. “If you truly believe that Izuku has what it takes to be a hero then you’ll go to this address tomorrow to hear your answers and discuss this with all the adults in his life.” He says and oh, the twins have their shinobi faces on… or maybe it was their leader faces.

“But…”

“We don’t keep secrets in our family. Especially not ones as life-changing as this.” Tsuchan tells him. “We do, however, keep secrets from those _outside_ of our family. So tomorrow, we’ll give you a secret for a secret, and then you can decide if you still think Izuku is someone you want as your successor.”

The twins smile at him and glance back at All Might before they disappear with the wind and a swirl of leaves. Now they were just showing off, using the shunshin was so not fair.

“Thank you for the opportunity, All Might, sir. And I hope to see you tomorrow.” Izuku says with a bow as he pressed the card that Kacchan handed him into the Pro Hero’s hand before walking away as well, leaving behind the man who had been petrified from the shock. The Nara family was just going to eat him up tomorrow. He thought with a snort.

* * *

Toshinori was having second thoughts about the boy he’d chosen as his successor, especially as he stood in front of the large Nara Estate which probably made up half of Musutafu alone. The estate was made in the traditional design and could quite easily have been called a castle. He had passed by the estate quite a few times in his years, but this was the first time he was going to be allowed to enter it. He knew nothing of the family except that they had lived and owned those lands for centuries, outlasting the end of the samurai and the dissolution of the daimyos. They were old money, probably old nobility too, and therefore, quite influential. He gulped as the gates were opened for him, he drove his white pickup truck up the driveway and parked it next to the main house.

He tried to put on his hero persona but the sight of the couple dressed formally in traditional wear with their greying hair and stern faces made him shiver. They eyed him skeptically and he could understand why, he wasn’t in his quirk enhanced form, right now he was just Yagi Toshinori. They gave him a shallow bow before nodding him inside.

On they went, deeper and deeper into the halls of the estate until they came upon an open porch with a view of both the gardens and a large dojo. The three teens were already there as well as three adults who were clearly the Bakugou twins’ parents and young Midoriya’s mother.

“Welcome to our home, All Might.” Lady Nara said. Voice polite and crisp as she began to serve them tea. He eyed the other members of the party again and internally sighed in relief as he realized that they were wearing streetwear and not the formal attire that the Naras’ had chosen. He had been worried about being underdressed as it was. “My name is Nara Haru, my husband Akio. Our daughter Mitsuki, her husband Masura, and our surrogate daughter Inko.” She said by way of introduction. “And you, of course, know our grandchildren.”

He said his greetings and thanks but otherwise chose to remain silent. His curiosity burning at the secret they were going to give him. “The children told us everything. I must admit, I didn’t know what to think when they told me that All Might’s quirk was one that could be passed on… that has quite a number of alarming implications.”

And oh, did Toshinori know it. It was why he worked hard to keep the power of One for All a secret. Thoughts of Nana and her death at the hands of the All for One flashed through his mind, his hero days were numbered but he didn’t want to just choose some random successor off of the streets (despite the fact that, that was actually what happened with young Midoriya), he needed someone he could trust and that he knew would have the qualities of a hero.

Everyone sat quietly to the side as Akio Nara sighed. “Regardless, our grandchildren promised a secret for a secret.” He began. “What do you know of the world before quirks became so widespread, the world as it was, centuries ago? What do you know of the shinobi and the samurai?”

He frowned. “There were no quirks when shinobi and samurai existed, they died out centuries ago.”

“Wrong, at least on one part of it. My granddaughter’s quirk is listed as chakra or energy manipulation. In truth, Chakra is present everywhere but only few people in this modern age can mold it and use it. Chakra has always existed, but the number of users decreased significantly centuries ago. It existed alongside quirks though they were known back then as Kekkai Genkai or bloodline limits.” The man said, Toshinori was ready to deny his claims but the man held up a hand.

“Do be silent, child, and let me finish.”

Toshinori immediately shut his mouth feeling like a schoolboy. Mitsuki sniggered to the side before Inko elbowed her in the side and Lady Haru gave a stern glare at the woman.

“Chakra users were primarily shinobi, samurai very rarely engaged in its arts, trusting their swords more. Back before these lands were one unified country, they were split up into what was known as Elemental Nations which were ruled by the Daimyo of the land. Some of the nations, particularly the stronger ones had mini military states known as hidden villages which were ruled by a military dictator. The hidden villages were composed of both civilian and shinobi living their day to day lives in protection within the village.”

The man glanced outside to the garden and he could see a natural wall with faces carved upon it. “The Nara lands were once known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves or Konohagakure no Sato. Konoha for short. Our leader was known as the Hokage and to become Hokage, you needed to fulfill certain criteria such as lineage of discipleship and blood/marriage, strength, and reputation.”

“The first Hokage, Lord Senju Hashirama, was one of the two leaders of the founding clans that united the formerly warring clans together. The longest reigning Hokage was my ancestor, Nanadaime Hokage Namikaze Uzumaki Senju Naruto, great-niece to Hashirama. Her husband was her top strategist and advisor Lord Nara Shikamaru. Anyway, numerous wars, bloodline purges targeting kekkai genkai users, and a rise in chakra nulls left just Konoha standing as the other shinobi villages collapsed and their shinobi moved to the leaf. My ancestor changed the rules and allowed chakra null people into the academy to augment it. But eventually, the shinobi way was relatively lost and forgotten. The clans intermarried until we were all that was left.” He finished explaining.

Toshinori frowned. “What does this have to do with Young Midoriya?”

“He is shinobi trained, along with my two other grandchildren. Would you like a demonstration?”

His breath hitched. He might be a hero, but he had loved watching pre-quirk era movies about samurai and ninjas. He nodded eagerly. Shinobi trained didn’t mean shinobi raised, he could see it in the children’s eyes, they hadn’t seen battles or true horrors, at least Midoriya hadn’t, the other two had old eyes.

* * *

“So, what do you think?”

Toshinori’s fingers were buzzing and it was all he could do to stop himself from shaking in excitement. The strength, the speed, the agility! And all blindfolded. Dodging all those pointy things getting thrown at them. Yes, he had so many ideas for how to train his successor, should he so choose to accept it, and perhaps Lord Nara would like to help.

However, … “They fight together?”

Lord Akio smiled, ignoring the explosions and curses flying between his daughter and grandson. “We are from Konoha and we live by the credo of the most powerful shinobi village. The Will of Fire or Hi no Ishi. We work in teams, protect our kings, which are the children and the innocents, and love them as though they were our family, our village. That is where we draw our strength from. There is more to it but that’s basically the gist of it, other Hokage’s have added to its meaning in later years but it essentially boils down to teamwork, form bonds, and use that to make you stronger. Service and duty is an honor, the glory is not a right and little acts of kindness can go a long way.”

That… that sounded lovely and like something that should be lived up to more by the heroes of today. No, the people everywhere should try to live by it. He really wanted to know more about it.

“I can lend you some texts about it if you want.” Lord Nara said with a laugh. “And what do you think about my grandson?”

What did he think of a boy who had such a pure heart, with the skills of the warriors of old, and the philosophy of the will of fire ingrained in him? He thought that the boy could be a hero that would outshine him. He didn’t say this, though. Didn’t voice his thoughts. Instead, he turned to the green-haired teen.

“What do you say, Young Midoriya, will you inherit my powers?” He asked again as everyone immediately became quiet, breaths held.

“Yes.”

There was an explosion of congratulations from the women around him as they rushed to the boy. Toshinori smiled.

“He won’t abuse the powers you give him.” Lady Haru said. “He knows the stories of what happens when people abuse those powers but… he’s still young so you might need to guide him a bit more than you initially thought.”

He nodded at the woman who stepped back to serve them some snacks. “Shall we discuss training schedules, All Might?”

Toshinori turned back to Lord Nara with a smile. “I thought you’d never ask.”

And thus, began a wonderful friendship between the last shinobis and the Symbol of Peace.

* * *

Meanwhile, Izuku shivered in fear as something like foreboding raced through his body.

“Why do I feel like I’ve just signed myself up for hell?”

Kacchan snorted while Tsuchan merely smiled beatifically. “Because you did, welcome to the world of heroes.” She said.

Izuku gulped and pushed back his tears. This was going to be a long ten months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another late night/early morning work. All Might buys into the Hi no Ishi and totally approves of it, even believes that courses should be taught in UA about that kind of mentality because he knows that there are a lot of heroes that are only there for the fame and the money. And All Might befriending the Nara Clan and their semi-shinobi servants... can you just imagine how that will go. Especially when Tsubaki finally masters what Tsunade and Jiraiya taught her as Naruto? Katsuki isn't an ass to Izuku in this story because of the presence of his sister and the little incident when they were five which left him shaken and a bit clingy. No Todoroki siblings in this chapter, maybe the next one or the one after that.
> 
> And yes, Izuku does know about the past life visions so he's very aware of the few things that they remember and isn't envious at all because of all of the stories of war and death. Let me know what you guys think! Stay safe and healthy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many meetings happen at the Nara Estate and an old face shows up. Two more heroes are brought in on the secret and one comes just to confirm the truth.
> 
> Or... All Might is bad at keeping secrets from Sir Nighteye, Recovery Girl gets the go-ahead to assess Tsubaki's skills but ends up falling head over heels in love with the technology instead (sort-of), and Gran Torino is just there to assure the heroes that every ridiculous story that comes out of Lord and Lady Nara's mouth is true but ends up with an apprentice along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I don't own Naruto or My Hero Academia.
> 
> Be warned, there's something pretty heavy in between (at least in my opinion).

Masaru stared at the number he’d been given nearly ten years ago. He remembered standing in that hospital ward with his family as they spoke to the Pro Hero about his daughter’s potential as a Healer Hero or at least a Support Based Hero. He flickered the card, the golden embossing of the U.A. crest catching the line before he took a deep breath and dialed the number. His daughter had expressed great interest in becoming a hero for years and had even excelled in her first aid and triage shinobi classes in the remnants of Konoha within the Nara Lands but he and his wife had kept pushing it off, wanting to give their children the ability to choose their own paths without further influence from them.

There was the raspy voice of Recovery Girl on the other end of the phone. “Hello?”

“I don’t know if you remember me, but my name is Bakugou Masaru, about ten years ago you…”

“Oh, you’re the father of the girl with the chakra quirk!” The woman said immediately. “If you’re calling, then I assume that…”

“Yes. She’s decided to pursue a path in heroics, and she’s shown an aptitude to healing, or at least, first aid and triage.”

“Then you’ll give me permission to talk to her, assess her skills and aptitudes, and perhaps even mentor her?”

He took another deep breath. “Yes, my wife and I have already discussed it with the kids. Our only condition is that you at least expand the boys’ knowledge on the subject as well.”

“Done.” She said immediately. “Where can we do the assessment.”

“Come to the Nara Estate tomorrow around 10.”

* * *

It was a frantic Toshinori that had called him on Friday night about a visit from his former co-agency teammate Sir Nighteye. The man had apparently demanded to meet the boy that the Symbol of Peace had decided was a worthy successor over the one he’d chosen and trained. So of course, the man had panicked and blurted out the Nara Estate’s address before trying to retract his statement. At that point, apparently, Sir Nighteye had already decided that he wasn’t going to be listening to any more of the man’s excuses and hung up, but not before saying that he’d be by to assess Izuku tomorrow (today) morning.

It was a headache and a half convincing Sorahiko Torino to come back to the Nara Estate. His childhood friend had left the borders and relative safety of Konoha and the Nara Estate to become a Hero, one of the first in fact. If anyone could explain it to the by the book, strict hero, it would be him. Recovery Girl was also going to be in his home around the same time and that would make it four heroes, perhaps one too many.

His daughters and their families all came to stay the night at the estate, as they often did since the children began to train as shinobi but today’s anticipation was perhaps the thing that was going to rock the proverbial boat. Akio pulled out the files he needed to prove the legality of their system and standing to the Heroes. The special dispensation provided by the Emperors renewed periodically (sometimes annually) granting them permission to remain as a reserve military force should Japan ever be threatened dated back centuries. Enough proof of their legitimacy.

There was no need to have the media and masses hounding around trying to get into the estate. Not only would it be foolish, but it would also be deadly yet. Seals upon seals had been layered throughout the centuries along Konoha’s borders, controlled by the Hokage, now just a hereditary title passed on to the members of the Nara Clan. Apart from his family, the only other person that could use chakra to such an extent was…

Eyes drifting to the house at the far edges of the village square, quite close to the hospital… to the home that his granddaughter was walking to… that immortal and highly amoral man. The reason why the hospital was still standing, why they were so far above the rest of the world technology-wise. And hadn’t that been a bitter pill. Progress had stopped and the world had stagnated in the wake of quirks but not in Konoha, not in a world that remembered that time itself had collapsed, had remembered the world when there were quirks and chakra and godly foes out there waiting to conquer the universe. No, his people had endured and pushed and progressed. He wondered just what would happen after the two heroes were faced with the reality of the world.

He hmmed to himself and grabbed one of the brownies his granddaughter had made when she had heard that one of the heroes that had come to her rescue as a child (had really just happened on the scene and stopped the bullets from hitting her and that Todoroki boy) was coming. His family had all pitched in and made something to thank the man, while he himself, had just produced one of Konoha’s finest vintage of Sake as his contribution. Eyes going through the fields and greenhouses that kept Konoha and the Estate as a whole fed and self-sufficient, before it went to the windmills, geothermal wells, and solar panels that powered the entire Nara Lands. A little country within a country in a way.

* * *

She had been avoiding this for years, had always felt his chakra presence in the periphery but had tried to ignore it. The inquisitive and knowing (probing) chakra sent to her and her brother was something they’d try so very hard not to acknowledge but this needed to be done. She knew what he had been up to but she didn’t want to chance something like what the Sandaime had done, she didn’t want to turn a blind eye to his human experimentation if he had a relapse.

Tsubaki passed by a tree and she took a deep breath. Her heart aching as she saw the lush part of forested land. The tree had grown so large in the centuries since she had planted it. Since her team had planted it, she had brought her children here often to plant flowers and to tend to it. Shikamaru had always been solemn. Hands pressed to the bark, she visited it less and less as she lost her family but she never failed to remind them how important it was, had always taken her grandchildren and great-grandchildren there to introduce them to the child that should have been her firstborn. Heart aching as she was unwillingly pulled back into those memories.

* * *

_“Well brat, I don’t know whether to congratulate you or hit you but there’s no denying that you’re pregnant.”_

_Naruto blinked owlishly at the blonde hair of her Auntie Tsunade. The Godaime just stared back at her. “Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how far along you are and who the father is.”_

_“Twelve weeks.” She said immediately before Tsunade’s glowing hands could even reach her._

_“And how do you know that?”_

_“Besides the fact that we’ve been at war? I’ve only done **that** once and it was only with one guy.”_

_Tsunade’s brow raised. “You can have sex while away at war.” And yeah, point to that but not in the fourth shinobi war where the person you were sleeping with could very easily have been one of the Zetsus. “At least tracking down the father won’t be a problem. So, who is it?”_

_Blue eyes widened before she started laughing airily. Fuck it! Naruto thought as her hands stroked her flat stomach reverently, she loved this baby, and she loved the baby’s father, she wasn’t ashamed of it. “It’s Gaara.”_

_Tsunade’s head bashed onto her table which then shattered into pieces from the contact. “The Kazekage?!?”_

_“You know what this means, right?”_

_Naruto swallowed a lump in her throat. It might mean the end of her dream of becoming Hokage. She wasn’t going to raise this baby away from their father if Gaara wanted to be a part of their life but that meant giving up the chance for the hat. “I can always be your ambassador to Suna.”_

_“This is everything you’ve worked for.”_

_Hand clutching her stomach, she smiled with all the happiness that had been filling her in the last few minutes because a baby was worth it. “I know. But it’s my baby. Our baby.”_

_And that was that. She had invited her team over that night, the whole of team seven including Sai and Captain Yamato to tell them the news. Had even badgered Sasuke into escorting her to Suna before he began his journey of self-discovery. Had teasingly put Konohamaru’s name forward as the next Hokage after Kakashi citing that he was as much her apprentice and student as he was Iruka or Ebisu’s. And then asked that the news be kept a secret until she was able to tell Gaara in a few weeks’ time._

_She miscarried two weeks later during dinner with her team at her apartment. The dull ache she’d been feeling becoming a sharp ache that stole her breath away as blood dripped down her legs. Sakura was at her side in a blink, checking her over with a pale face. She heard the Kakashi order Sai and Captain Yamato away to Tsunade before Sasuke had scooped her up, rushing to the hospital, Sakura keeping pace the whole time._

_It was too late. She knew that by the grim set of Tsunade and Sakura’s mouths. She remembered having to deliver a baby that was too small, too early, remembered Kurama’s apologetic and soothing voice in her head. Remembered being carefully handed that too small body with bits of red hair peeking out. Red like Gaara’s not like her mother’s or Karin’s._

_“Do you… do you know if it was…?” She choked out as she held her baby in the palm of her hands._

_“It was a girl.” Sakura’s voice was solemn and so quiet. Naruto spared a glance at her teammate and her aunt; tears were falling down their eyes, but she couldn’t smile or even try to comfort them as her eyes immediately drifted back to her baby._

_She brought her baby closer to her face. “Uzumaki Aiko.” She whispered, eyes remembering the kanji that Gaara had carved above his eye. “Aiko, child of love. Your daddy would have loved you.”_

* * *

She buried her baby three days later. Captain Yamato giving her a sapling of a pine tree while Sakura had bought flowers to plant around the grave. She never told Gaara about their baby, hadn’t seen the need to break his heart further, hadn’t seen the need to tell him just how broken her body had been in those first few months after the war, that the excess of chakra from all of the bijuu, from his own time as a jinchuuriki had poisoned their baby as Shukaku’s chakra and Kurama’s warred inside her body, interspersed by the chakra left behind by the other seven. How it had taken a further six months after the war before her body was hospitable enough to carry a child to term.

She had never told Gaara but then, the next time they saw each other again was two years later her wedding day. Gaara hadn’t known but Shikamaru had. She had to explain to him why she was such a wreck during her pregnancy with Shikadai, had to explain why she seemed so erratic, so fearful. The fact that they were just newlyweds, having gotten pregnant within weeks of the wedding hadn’t helped their awkward relationship but he had understood, and he had even grieved with her. That was the first and only time they had allowed themselves to speak about the _what-ifs_ in their lives because they had decided to look towards the future for the sake of their own child.

Tsubaki wiped her tears away and took one steadying breath after another before she kissed her fingers and caressed the bark one last time. “I love you, Aiko. Always.” She promised before she walked away, back to her destination. She wasn’t going to be joining the boys for training this morning, she had something important to do. And when that was done, perhaps a visit to Shikamaru's grave and those of their children.

* * *

He looked up and smiled tiredly as the door opened. Her chakra so familiar and so blinding that he always knew when she was on the estate, her and her brother. He had been waiting for one or the other to come and visit him, he had just forgotten how stubborn they were.

“Naruto.” He greeted as he stood up from where he was sitting at his dining table, ready to prepare some food or drinks should she so wish it.

He took her in, blonde hair the same color as Hime’s and red eyes like Kurenai and Mirai’s. But that face… it had all the hallmarks of the Uzumaki and Senju clans. “I was wondering when one of you was going to pay me a visit.” He said lightly.

“Orochimaru.” She said with a small smile and a nod. “I’ve come to check up on you.”

“You mean to make sure that I haven’t gone back to my old nefarious ways.”

“Among many other things.” She said as she took a seat beside the Snake Sannin. “Have you?”

Orochimaru smiled at her sadly. “What is the point? The quirks? Kekkai Genkai that have just begun refining and attuning themselves, the jutsus? I am one of the few that remain that can even use chakra. Technology? I have been churning out more advanced things for centuries and I’ve yet to find a mind as inspired as my own. Log and Mitsuki are dead, my teammates are dead. All I have left is Konoha.”

He stared at her as she gave him a contemplative look. There wasn’t any pity in her eyes, hadn’t expected to find any. But she looked at him with all the understanding of someone who had watched her world come apart so many times. And in a way, she had. This was the proof of reincarnation he had once tried to strive for. To find his parents, had counted on being able to sense their chakras but when chakra was lost to humanity, he found that it was all for naught.

“Do you regret your immortality?”

Did he? Orochimaru knew the answer to that. “Somedays. This world has stagnated so much, and I don’t even recognize it anymore. The only ones that can understand me are the Bijuu and I’ve not seen hide nor hair of them since quirks became widespread. I am relic of a time long gone just pulling through with the duties left behind by you and Hime. The hospital, I’ve been running in honor of her dream, her life’s work. Jiraiya’s books? I’ve read so often just to remind myself of him, so that I don’t forget, I’ve taken on some of his duties too. And Konoha? It was Sensei and Anko.”

“Do you want me to release you from your duties?”

“I would rather you not, I would have nothing left in my life if you did.”

Naruto, or Tsubaki as she was now called, nodded. “Some of the Pro Heroes will be here today, we might end up giving them a tour, whether you want to meet them or not, I leave that up to you.” There was a pause as she stared at him. “Now, spymaster, tell me everything.”

* * *

Izuku groaned from his place beside Kacchan’s feet as their grandmother dismissed them to get ready for the arrival of the four heroes. He felt his best friend’s arm pulling him up before a little burst of healing chakra rushed through him. It really wasn’t Kacchan’s forte but for little things like this, it was enough. He sighed contentedly as the aches in his muscles were soothed before they left for their respective weekend rooms.

Choosing one of the more formal clothing that would be easy to move in should a spar be required, he quickly washed up and got dressed, sweaty hands shaking as be brushed his hair back. It was one thing to spar against Kacchan but Tsuchan was another matter given her inhuman strength and stamina. He really hoped she wouldn’t be forced to fight against him.

Walking quietly to the formal sitting room, he sat and waited with the rest of his family, surrogate and blood (though really, that was just his mother), for the Pro Heroes to arrive. His eyes took in the fact that Tsubaki wasn’t dressed to fight today. She was in a heavy and restricting kimono, one filled with intricate designs and the Nara crest stitched delicately on the back. As was Aunt Mitsuki and Grandma Haru. His mother was dressed in one of her finer kimonos too but there was no clan crest on her.

Kacchan and Uncle Masura were both dressed in modern clothing though no less formal, Kacchan’s wasn’t restrictive either. Grandfather arrived dressed as traditionally as the women. The moment he sat down, the servants, all trained shinobi, began to serve the tea and bring out some sweets to go along with it. Too early for lunch, too late for breakfast, as Grandma always said.

The sound of the approaching footsteps had him gulping before the door slid open to the lanky and sickly body of Toshinori Yagi and behind him were Sir Nighteye, Gran Torino, and Recovery Girl.

* * *

Mirai Sasaki otherwise known as Sir Nighteye stared unimpressed at Midoriya Izuku. The boy seemed a bit too wiry, too timid, to be the next symbol of peace. He eyed the other children, _teenagers_ his mind corrected, dismissing the other boy who seemed to be bursting at the seams with barely concealed arrogance and the undercurrents of rage, the girl was too pretty, too doll-like but she was also oozing with a great amount of optimism and kindness without the naivety that often came with it.

He watched the familiar greetings shared between Gran Torino and Lord Nara. Listened to the older men talking about their childhood on the Estate and cast his eye about the large land that took up half of Musutafu and some areas of it surrounding cities to see farmlands, greenhouses, and an entire village. Stone faces carved on a sheer cliff face stared back at him from his spot.

The Nara estate had always been one full of secrets, very restrictive of who went in and who went out. He knew All Might well enough to know that the man wouldn’t choose a child for the money that his family held but for the qualities that they had. He had been told the reasons behind his choice, but he had yet to see it, had yet to see the boy prove that at the very least, his body could handle the power.

“Shall we give you a demonstration before we explain things? Or would you rather an explanation?” Lord Nara asked.

“A demonstration by the boys.” Mirai said.

* * *

_‘I can see why he chose the boy.’_ He thought as he watched the combat skills and strength the boy displayed. His analytical ability was also a thing to consider. He believed that Midoriya would even be able to give Mirio Togata a hard time. Now that was a thought. Perhaps arranging a spar between the two at a later date, provided that the boy got into U.A.

His eyes turned to the girl that Recovery Girl was here for. He knew quite a lot of female Pro Heroes who were popular for their looks and this girl would definitely be one, he knew looks could be deceiving but… he really couldn’t see it. She looked so dainty, so fragile. If she was a support hero with a healing quirk like Recovery Girl though… well, that would explain a lot.

After Izuku had landed on his back, out of breath and sweaty from having put on a wonderful quirkless fight against his cousin? Friend? The blonde boy gave him a hand up which Midoriya grabbed with a grin. He turned to the girl who was so impractically dressed for a showcase.

“Will you be giving us a demonstration as well?” He asked.

She glanced at her grandfather who nodded before she stepped out to the empty yard. “I’ll do it without my quirk first.” She said before she punched the ground and the world around him shook, the ground was overturned, and a crater was left from where the girl had punched. And then she punched it a second time and another more earthshattering quake happened as a giant crater appeared. She winced when water began to sprout out.

“Oops.” She said sheepishly while Lord Nara sighed. “Troublesome.” He heard the man mutter.

“She’s really a Nara woman then…” Gran Torino cackled at the young Miss Bakugou who was moving away from the spray of the water. The girl had ruptured a water line. Servants immediately appeared, some dropping from the roof as they began their repairs. All the servants moved like warriors… like…

“I think you should explain everything to me, now.” He said before he allowed himself to be led back to the sitting room.

And that was how he found himself an hour later staring at special dispensation papers from the Emperor of Japan going back centuries, allowing the existence of a _shinobi_ village that has existed for nearly a thousand years as an augmentation to their nonexistent military. A technologically advanced but culturally traditional society who had known about quirks since before quirks were a widespread thing and some of whom wielded chakra to manipulate the elements and augment their attacks.

He wanted to laugh hysterically given how outrageous this story was, how utterly out of this world because Aliens and gods and goddesses and living plant people, time collapsing in on itself, and an artificial moon had to be nothing but made up stories. His foresight told him differently though, beside him, Gran Torino sat drinking tea calmly, interspersing it with what he knew from his childhood within the Estate or rather within Konohagakure no Sato. Recovery Girl on his other side sat wide-eyed but hungry at the mentions of medical techniques and advanced technological equipment.

All Might sat there nodding and passing on different scrolls for them to read through, the one most important to the Symbol of Peace seemed to be the scroll containing the doctrine of the Will of Fire. The way of life and philosophy that these people ascribed to. Having read it himself, he could understand why it would appeal to his old partner.

When the explanation was done, he only had one thing to say as he gently placed the documents onto the table. He looked Lord Nara in the eye and simply said “Prove it.”

* * *

Chiyo Shuzenji walked into what looked like rural Japan set into the heart of the city. People walked around in traditional clothing and modern clothing as Lady Nara walked about with the children. Lord Nara having left to deal with some issues that had come about while his daughters and his son in law had to leave for their own duties within Konoha. Administrative duties that were delegated more and more to the younger generation, perhaps in preparation for the day that Lord and Lady Nara formally retire.

She took in the training grounds and the numerous people with and without visible quirk enhanced bodies walking around, taking in the silent and gracefully deadly way they walked and the relaxed, carefree attitude they had. She saw the Academy, the Hokage’s tower, and the various training grounds before she came upon a small hospital. She became giddy with expectation, she had, thus far, not seen any sort of advanced technology but surely… surely the hospital would have _something_.

A man appeared, pale with snake-like features but still quite a looker. He had long dark hair and old tired eyes. Sorahiko Torino moved forward, an eager smile on his face. “Well, Orochimaru-sama! Good to know you’re still alive and kicking! What are you? Pushing a thousand?”

“About two centuries off, young man.” Orochimaru drawled. “And I seem to recall your loud declarations of never coming to my hospital of your own accord.”

“I was seven!”

“And a total brat!” The man shot back.

Lady Nara, years younger than Sorahiko but old enough to remember his time living in the village, laughed loudly behind them. “Orochimaru-sama, I hope you haven’t been kidnapping children for human experimentations or body stealing to possess people again.” She said lightly as Chiyo and the other heroes turned to them in horror.

“I haven’t done that in centuries, not since the end of the fourth shinobi war. As I’ve sworn to your granddaughter repeatedly this morning. And as she’s practically a human lie detector, you and I both know that she would have reported any such falsities and misdeeds to you and your husband. I now live to serve Konoha in penance and in honor of my teammates long gone.” He replied easily and sincerely enough.

“He’s telling the truth, grandmother.” Chiyo’s would be protegee said from the side. “I interrogated him quite thoroughly earlier. He lives to serve Konoha for as he has so said, he is a relic out of place in a world that has gone stagnant.”

Then Bakugou Tsubaki stepped up next to the man before turning her attention to them. “This is Orochimaru, last of the Densetsu no Sannin, once one of the most powerful shinobi team. The three sages were Orochimaru of the snake, master of ninjutsu and science, Tsunade the Slug Princess, strongest Kunoichi and greatest medic of the age, and Jiraiya the Galant, the Great Toad Sage, Seal Master, and Spy extraordinaire… and a self-proclaimed super pervert and novelist.” She explained before turning back to the man. “Orochimaru is the one that carries the legacy of all three, has taken up their duties and tasks. He is the reason why our technology is so advanced and why our doctors are so skilled that the Imperial Family only comes to this hospital to be treated.”

“Orochimaru-sama, these are Recovery Girl, Sir Nighteye, and All Might.” She said as she nodded to each one. “I think All Might-san might benefit from a session with you.”

The ancient man nodded and eyed the sickly-looking man who was even now, coughing up blood. Chiyo tutted and ushered the man along, eager to see the hospital and get the man treated quickly. She followed after the doctor/mad scientist past the reception room to the smallish hospital. Eyes lighting up to the point where she was sure they were twinkling with stars as she stared at the shiny and advanced technology and asked questions after questions about their uses.

In the back of her mind, she had allowed herself to admit how stagnant their technology and society had come, and while some of it could be blamed on Konoha hoarding that knowledge and the fact that time had apparently come undone and sent them back centuries in advancements… well… she was sure that they could have potentially caught up to it if they hadn’t focused so much of their development on heroes.

And then Orochimaru-san brought out a fish and killed it, placing it in front of them and beckoning Tsubaki forward. “A demonstration and test that all aspiring iryo-nin take to prove that they have an aptitude for iryo-jutsus and a chance at perhaps mastering the Strength of a Hundred Seal and the Creation Rebirth technique, neither of which I have mastered.”

Tsubaki stepped forward as Orochimaru explained the Seal and Rebirth technique and Chiyo was sure she had gone to heaven, and then… and then… Tsubaki’s hands lit up and began to glow green, in a matter of moments, the dead fish was flopping around, alive. Yes, stars and heaven, she thought as she turned to the girl. “I’m recommending you for the Hero Course!” She cried out loud as she approached the girl.

“I refuse.” She flat out denied leaving behind a startled silence. “I want to take the exam! I’m going to go there through my own merits and strengths and prove from the very beginning that I belong there and if I fail then I’ll just go to another school!” She declared.

Her twin, Katsuki, a boy with _some_ healing abilities, slapped his forehead and groaned.

* * *

Katsuki sighed as he eyed his former teacher, the man had been a bit of a creep (that was a lie, he was hella creepy) but at least he was an amazing teacher. And from the looks of it, Orochimaru was at least somewhat repentant of his crimes, at least regarding Konoha and his team. He was still a shinobi and his moralities were very different from the moralities found in civilians back then or the ones that the people, in general, had in this era.

He knew what was going to happen now, as All Might refocused his interest back on Deku, despite his willingness to train him and his sister, Deku was his successor and therefore his priority. Recovery Girl was gunning for his twin… and he would be left behind, he eyed Orochimaru again and wondered whether or not he was willing to be apprenticed to the man again before he shook his head and shoved the jealousy aside. He was happy for them. For his sister and his best friend.

“You’ll do.” Gran Torino said.

Katsuki blinked and eyed the old man.

“I said, you’ll do. We come from shinobi backgrounds boy, and what better hero to train you before the entrance exam than a shinobi raised hero?” He pointed out. “That is if you’re willing.”

Katsuki nodded slowly, eyes glancing around the room. Sir Nighteye was deep in conversation with his grandmother while the other five members of their group were conversing about All Might’s injuries. His eyes snapped back to the old man. “Yes, I accept.”

The man smiled deviously. “Good, we have four months left so it’s best to get started soon. We’ll start tomorrow, boy. I won’t go easy on you, nor will I hint to the exam.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should be the Entrance Exam! So excited! And sorry about the people who weren't happy about the miscarriage scene. I've never experienced something like that and I don't want to downplay the experiences of the people who have and I did try to write it to the best of my abilities but I still somehow find it lacking.
> 
> Yes, Orochimaru is still alive and he's in Konoha. One of the main reasons is because it was the only place that he feels comfortable in, that he could be himself, that he could remember who he is. Another is because of his self-imposed penance. So yeah, he's the reason they're so advanced. And as I've finished writing this, it occurred to me that maybe, I've kind of turned it into something like Wakanda, at least in terms of Orochimaru's inventions and their hoarding of said inventions.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think of this chapter and of the extra mentoring that the heroes will be getting! Stay safe and healthy everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrance Exams and the twins compete on who would have the highest points and probably wouldn't be counted as the sanest of people. Izuku proves that he doesn't need a quirk until the last minute. Tsubaki makes three friends by invading their personal space. Orochimaru gets an intern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I don't own either BNHA or Naruto... so... not gonna lie, I suck at writing fight scenes so kinda just blundered through it. I offer you my most sincere apologies for that.

Katsuki closed the book on Japanese Laws with a sigh. Gran Torino had taken him to task after some physical exercises because of his pride and temper before assigning him his homework about the laws of Japan. They might not be a litigious society like America but people can still sue you for all you were worth so knowing which boundaries you could push would be for the best, especially after coming from a background like Konoha. A lot of his training hadn’t been on the physical aspect of hero work but more on the ethics and duties.

And yeah, he could understand it. His pride and temper, his tendency to hold grudges… it had led him down the wrong path throughout his multiple lifetimes. He eyed his sister who was focused on the shogi board before his eyes looked outside, eyes zoning in on a particular tree and he felt his heart clench knowing who’s grave that tree marked. Little Aiko never stood a chance, the injuries to her mother’s womb from one of his Chidori to Naruto’s stomach during their last confrontation at the Valley of the End had been the final nail in her coffin. Naruto might not have blamed him but Sasuke always did, it was why he worked hard to make it up to her in the years that followed. Fighting to make her vision of the world come true.

“Some tea for you, Katsuki?” His Dad asked as he sat beside him. He nodded as his eyes scanned the room. Three games of Shogi were being played: Deku and Grandma who was locked in a silent battle, his mother was grinning as she stared at Auntie Inko who was sweating profusely, and Tsuchan and their Grandpa who were deep in conversation about tactics. He had opted not to play in favor of his law book and so did his dad who was busy doing some work on his laptop. He began to yawn before he gulped down the last of his tea and stood up.

“I’m turning in.” He said despite the early hour. Tomorrow was the entrance exam for UA, there was no way he was going to go in tired.

* * *

Tsubaki was vibrating with excitement as she sat in between her brothers with I-kun mumbling under his breath. _‘Get him to shut up.’_ She could practically hear her twin’s voice in her mind even without them glancing at each other, she nodded with a smile and covered I-kun’s mouth with a hand and a little glare as Present Mic began explaining the physical text. Tsubaki knew her eyes were probably sparkling as she heard the video game-like format, and she had to work very hard not to squeal in excitement. The two sets of hands-on her mouth and on each arm to hold her down helped a lot.

“I guess they’re not letting friends work together in the exam.” Kacchan said as he glanced at her card and over to where I-kun had flashed his card showing the B designation. She flicked her eyes to her twin’s and saw A before her eyes stared down at her own card to see the letter C printed on it.

She sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to face off in a spar at home. It’s not going to be as cool as trying to get more robots in the same setting.” She said glumly.

“As if you could beat me. We’ll just see who has the most points and count how many robots we destroyed along the way.”

“Are you two really going to turn this into a competition?” I-kun asked with a long-suffering sigh.

“Yes!” They said quietly as they turned to him. Their best friend shook his head and turned his attention back to the Hero.

* * *

Izuku watched the door passively, stretching out his bones and taking long calming breaths to get his nerves under control. He finally had One for All under control and he had shinobi training to back him up so how hard could this be? His eyes saw the girl that had caught him when he had almost fallen earlier and was about to walk over to thank her when someone grabbed his arm. He cursed for his low situational awareness because no one should have been able to get the drop on him like that. The last time had been the Sludge Villain and Grandpa Nara had taken the three of them to task for their poor showing with extra training over the weekend.

“Don’t try to bother her when she’s trying to focus.” The boy that had been asking questions earlier had said. Izuku raised his brow at him. “You looked like you were about to disturb her. The exams aren’t somewhere to pick up women.”

His brow twitched. “I was only going to thank her for catching me earlier.” It was a lot less creepy than the glasses-wearing guy had been staring at him enough that he could pick up the fact that Izuku wanted to talk to the girl, but he chose not to vocalize his thoughts. He heard the gates creak open before Present Mic’s voice even boomed out, he was two seconds faster than everyone else. Izuku smiled as his eyes focused on the robots. He ran faster and pulled out some ninja wire jumping above the robot and let the wire bisect the robot down the middle. Yeah, I’ve got to thank Orochimaru for giving me the goods when all of this was over. He smirked as he ran to the next one, going further and further into the city.

His eyes caught sight of the girl again and saw her levitating and releasing robots, letting them crash to the ground, effective but not efficient given the strain on her face. The ground shook and something large loomed overhead. He could hear everyone begin to scream and run away so he prepared himself to run away as well until his eyes caught sight of the girl, pale and sweating, looking like she was about to be sick and was probably also paralyzed from the fear. His body moved even before he could think as he ran towards the zero pointer and jumped, fists drawing back as he controlled the power of One for All and punched.

He watched satisfied as it fell before another problem occurred to him, he had never jumped this high without either of the twins to catch him or any place to catch himself and stop his momentum, at least the cliffs had rocks he could try to grab. His hands fumbled for his wire before realization hit him that there was literally no time for him to tie a loop, let alone to find somewhere to throw it so that he could at least slow his descent. He sighed as he began to brace his body for the fall, preparing himself to take the least amount of damage, nothing Tsuchan or Recovery Girl couldn’t handle.

 _This is going to hurt._ He thought before he felt something slap his cheek and his eyes met the brown eyes of the girl from earlier and he realized that he had stopped falling. She brought her hands together and they both landed with a gentle thud.

“TIMES UP!” They heard Mic say.

They stared at one another as silence fell descended. “Thanks for catching me!” He said with a smile.

The girl blinked and turned slightly pink. “No problem. Thanks for saving me.” She moved to stand before she turned green and doubled over.

Izuku moved to her side immediately, holding her up. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just quirk overuse.”

“Oh, I see. Do you want me to take you to Recovery Girl?” He asked as he let her lean on him. She shook her head, but the Hero was already making her way to them. _’74 points and 48 robots.’_ His mind tallied.

* * *

Katsuki eyed the others around him, assessing their potential and almost writing them off before Gran Torino’s voice rang through his mind. _‘You’re too prideful! Don’t underestimate anyone, boy! That’s the quickest way to get killed or to get others killed.’_ Before a staff would hit his head. Calm. Control your pride. Breathe. He reminded himself. He turned back to the gates and took off the moment the gap was wide enough to let him in. He heard the others following him, but he paid them no mind.

There! His hand touched the head of the robot and let it explode. 1, 2, 3… he counted happily in his mind as he mentally tallied his points. _Sheer destruction! Chaos!_ A voice in his mind trilled happily, the voice of Sasuke Uchiha in the days long past the voice that had been put to rest after the Valley of the End. God. Did he now have a split personality like Sakura? Ehh… Probably not. This was just the first time he was able to cut loose like this without having to fear the consequences and with such low stakes.

His thoughts were cut off as his eyes caught sight of a large piece of concrete about to fall on a green-haired girl, he shrugged and ran straight for her, he pulled her into his arms and jumped away from her fight.

“Hey Bastard! What do you think you’re…” The girl began but shut up as he put her down and pointed to where she had been standing. The robot she had been fighting had been crushed under a large slab of concrete. Katuski’s eyes caught sight of more robots and took off to continue his hunt.

 _‘I’m going to beat those two losers!’_ He thought happily as more robots fell to his explosions, unmindful of the fact that everyone else had begun to run away. He stared at the zero pointer as it got closer to him and he mentally debated whether it was worth it. Screw it! He decided that it would at least count for his robot count against the other two and destroyed it with three large blasts. He smirked as the exam ended. ‘ _110 points and 84 robots. Suck it, losers.’_

* * *

Tsubaki chose to watch her fellow examinees and she smiled as she caught sight of three people. She chose to approach the closest one, the one with hair as pink as Sakura-chan’s. “Hi! I’m Bakugou Tsubaki, Hero Course hopeful!” She said with a wide smile.

The girl turned to her, yellow eyes scanning her head to toe. “I’m Hatsume Mei! Support Course hopeful!”

“The support course still has to take the physical?”

“Yeah, but it’ll allow me to show off some of my babies, at least.” She said as she stroked her bag. Tsubaki eyed it with great interest.

“Are you an inventor?”

Hatsume’s smiled wide. “Yeah! These are my sweet babies! I designed and made all of them by hand!”

“Woah! So cool!” Tsubaki thought of Orochimaru and briefly wondered if he would like Hatsume and her desire to create. Would it be a good idea to introduce the two of them? It would give the girl an advantage and she had a good feeling about the girl anyway. She wondered if Hatsume would be able to make something chakra compatible and maybe with some fuinjutsu added to it?

The two of them spoke for a little bit before she turned back to look at the two that had caught her attention, one was a girl who had orange hair and who gave off the same vibe as Temari and sometimes Sakura did, the one that said she was an older sister used to wrangling their errant siblings. The other was a boy with indigo hair and dark bags under his eyes that could rival Gaara’s but his whole aura practically screamed Shino. She dragged her new friend towards the two.

She grabbed one hand from the two and gave them her biggest smile. She could sense the hesitancy and shock coming from the two, but she refused to let them take a step back. “Hi! I’m Bakugou Tsubaki, Hero Course hopeful!” She said repeating her introduction from earlier. She pointed to her new friend. “And this is Hatsume Mei, Support Course hopeful!”

The girl eyed her warily. “Uhh… I’m Kendo Itsuka… Hero Course hopeful?” She said a bit unsure.

Tsubaki stared at the boy expectantly and after a few moments so did the other girls. The boy’s eyes began to twitch as he lost his cool persona. “I’m Shinso Hitoshi, Hero Course hopeful, too.” He introduced himself through gritted teeth.

“Nice to meet you all! Let’s do our best!” Tsubaki said brightly. She inwardly chortled at the confusion radiating from the other two but Hatsume-chan seemed to have adapted to her already, that was a good sign. She dragged the two new members of her little group closer to the gate. She hadn’t been known as the #1 most unpredictable ninja for nothing. She let go once she had shoved her way to the front with her small group and just in time too, the gates opened, and she took off without even waiting for Present Mic’s announcements. Only amateurs waited for a starting signal, after all.

 _‘1 little 2 little 3 little robots’_ she sang internally as she pulverized them with a punch, jumping up and over the heads of others to get in front of them. She was mindful of the other three, extending her sensory abilities to keep track of them. It wouldn’t do for her new friends to get injured or die on the first day of their friendship, that was just poor showing after all and not befitting of a kunoichi of Konoha.

It wasn’t too long until the big boss zero pointer appeared, and everything went to hell in a handbasket because someone had panicked and set off their quirk and because of that a building was collapsing. Seriously, how was this exam even legal outside of Konoha? How had they avoided getting sued for PTSD at least? She lifted some of the rubble before her eyes caught sight of her friends.

“Yo, Shinso! Kendo! Hatsume!” She called out. The three glanced back at her and ran towards her as she gestured for them to come forward. It was nice to see that they were willing to listen to her and to trust her despite having just met her just a few minutes ago and despite the fact that she had practically invaded their spaces and made them uncomfortable.

“Hatsume, Kendo, help me get them away from here and set up a quick perimeter and first aid center.” She said before she tossed them her small emergency pack and made two shadow clones.

She turned to the sole boy in the group who was staring wide-eyed at her clones. “Shinso, I need you to help me get the others out, I’ll lift the rubble and you pull them out, okay?” She could theoretically do it all by herself but then where was the fun in that? They weren’t in immediate danger and this would be the perfect time to teach them some teamwork. She cast her sensory abilities and saw that there were only two more people under the rubble. They had three minutes left and a giant robot that needed all her attention. She made another clone and handed her some quick burn barrier seals before lifting the rubble off the closest one and letting Shinso pull the boy away, Kendo arrived to take him away.

“This is the last one.” She said as she lifted the rubble. Shinso pulled the girl away, half dragging her to the makeshift first aid station.

She glanced at the robot that was literally right in front of her and at her clone who gave her the go-ahead. She jumped till she was over the robot and punched its head. The impact caused it to explode into little pieces, her barrier seals stopping the debris from hitting any bystanders while she quickly made the hand signs to manipulate the wind around her to avoid getting hit by the shockwave. She landed gently on the ground just as the barrier sputtered out and the seal disintegrated, two seconds later the exam ended.

She dispelled her clones and let the memories wash over her as she approached the gathering point. Her clones appeared to have done a good job healing everyone because there wasn’t even a single bruise on anyone. _‘130 points and 108 robots! Beat that Kacchan!’_

* * *

The viewing room was silent as they stared at simulations A-C. “That was…” One of the teachers began but stopped.

“All three had great rescues by the highest scorers and they all singlehandedly destroyed the zero pointers. Two of them did it with one hit, and one had taken three but…”

“The girl from site C was able to rally others to help out, are they getting rescue points too? And did you see her quirk? Strength, barrier, clones, and healing?”

“That’s a super quirk if I saw one!”

Aizawa stared at the screens impassively, already knowing who was going to end up in the hero course. He eyed the boy from site A, the boy had been grinning a bit madly as he destroyed the robots. Had he not seen the boy go out of his way to save one of the examinees from getting crushed he would have been worried, but it didn’t seem to matter. He had a feeling they were going to end up in his class.

* * *

Tsubaki walked out of the site talking to her three new friends. They were talking about the exam and about the final takedown of the zero pointer which, yeah, was epic! And maybe she was a little bit too arrogant but… it was so easy! She knew that I-kun would have been able to pass even without One for All, heck, all he needed was his ninja tools and he’d be set!

But… she felt Shinso’s mood dim. “What’s wrong Shinso-kun?”

“I didn’t get any points.” He said quietly. The two other girls stopped talking immediately and glanced at him. “My quirk isn’t flashy, and some would say it isn’t even a hero’s quirk.”

“What do you mean?” Kendo-chan asked.

“My quirk is brainwashing, apparently that means I’m destined to be a villain.” He said quietly and bitterly.

Tsubaki blinked and glanced around as she dragged him away to a more secluded spot with the other two following. “Now you listen to me, mister! Any quirk is villain worthy or hero worthy, it all depends on how you use it.” She said indignantly. “If you want to be a hero then you have the perfect quirk for crisis de-escalation! Say, in a situation where someone was pointing a gun at a hostage, you would be able to use your quirk to convince the person not to shoot and to surrender! That’s an awesome thing!”

“Yeah!” Hatsume-chan said with a smile. “And just think of how many lives you can save just by convincing others to surrender.”

“Whoever said that to you was stupid.” Kendo-chan assured him.

Shinso-kun stared at them. “You… you guys aren’t scared of me?”

“What? Of course not!” Tsubaki said.

“Nope.” The two girls replied together.

Tsubaki stared at him. “But you probably would’ve been able to get points even without a quirk if you had more combat training or at least some martial arts skills.”

“Is that what you did?” Kendo-chan asked. Tsubaki nodded at them as she led them back to the path and used her sensory abilities to find her boys.

A thought popped into her head; her grandpa would probably call her a moron for this but… she trusted them already. “Why don’t you guys train with me? UA is the first hero school to have their entrance exams so at least we’d be able to take the tests together if we didn’t pass.”

“What did you have in mind?” Kendo-chan asked.

“Intense combat training and teamwork simulations!” She said happily as her mind wandered to the dojo and the various training grounds within the Nara Estate. She saw Hatsume-chan about to reject the idea, so she beat her to it.

“If you train with us, I’ll introduce you to one of the greatest scientific minds and try to talk him into mentoring you, and I’ll show you some really cool and really advanced tech that isn’t available to the public.” She told the pink-haired girl.

“Deal!” Hatsume-chan said happily.

They all turned to Shinso with expectant looks waiting for him to cave-like he did earlier. “Fine.”

“YAY!” She squealed as she pulled them all in for a group hug.

“Tsubaki!” She heard her twin call out sharply as KI drifted towards them. This was why she didn’t have any male friends apart from I-kun. She pulled away and gave her brother an innocent smile.

“Hey, Kacchan!” He stomped towards them with I-kun trailing behind. Her brother stopped in front of them, a fierce glower on his face as he glared at Shinso-kun before he turned to her.

She sighed. “Kacchan, I-kun, these are my new friends Hatsume Mei,” She said as she pointed to the inventor. “Kendo Itsuka,” The orange-haired girl nodded. “And Shinso Hitoshi.” The sole boy in the group nodded to him, not at all bothered by the glare. Wow, he’s got a spine of steel if he isn’t afraid of Kacchan.

“Guys, this is my twin Bakugou Katsuki and our best friend from infancy Midoriya Izuku.” She said, letting everyone just come to the most obvious conclusion given the similarities in their hair and eye color.

“Kacchan, they’ll be training with us from now on to prepare for the other entrance tests.”

Her twin stopped glaring at Shinso and I-kun breathed a sigh of relief at not having to restrain Kacchan.

“You’re telling the old man.”

* * *

“You want me to what?” Orochimaru asked over tea that night.

Tsubaki stared at him as she repeated ever so slowly. “I want you to meet this girl and assess her potential as a scientist and inventor. I think she’ll be a good fit for you. You said you haven’t met anyone inspired in ages so…”

“A wannabe inventor.”

“She’s already had some inventions prove to be successful.”

The Snake Sannin stared at her. “Why are you pushing this girl on me?”

Tsubaki decided to go for the truth. “She kinda reminds me of Karin.”

She could see the moment the man gave in. “Okay.”

His old subordinates were apparently a weak spot for him now. Was it the loneliness or did he really just go soft over the years? “Nothing morally compromising.” She told him before texting her friends the address of the estate. Thankfully, her grandfather didn’t put up much of a fight in the face of her puppy dog eyes. He never did.

* * *

Shinso stared at the gates to the Nara Estate with wide-eyed awe before he glanced at the map on his phone that said that he was at the right place. Kendo and Hatsume arriving together just moments later with the same look on their faces.

“Wow, they’re filthy rich. I never thought I’d be able to enter this place.” Kendo said. Shinso could understand, not even heroes and celebrities were invited in. The Nara family were old money, like _old_. They were practically royalty at this point, they probably were nobles until the restoration.

Hatsume rubbed her hands together. “My sweet babies! I wonder if I can get her to back my projects.” She said with a giggle as she began to coo at her bag full of experiments.

The gates swung open and they were met with a man in a suit standing in front of a car. “My name is Bubaigawara Jin, Tsubaki-sama has asked me to drive you up to the main house.”

Yeah, definitely spoiled. He got in after the girls and let himself relax on the ride up the long driveway.

* * *

Everything ached. Itsuka groaned as she picked herself off the ground. Even three on one, they couldn’t defeat Tsubaki. It showed exactly how far behind the three of them were from peak physical performance. They had been at it for three hours and she was getting kind of hungry. She was sure everyone could hear her stomach growling as she thought of the food that was sure to be served in a place like this.

“So, you guys have any preferences for lunch?” Tsubaki asked.

“Ramen!” Hatsume said immediately.

“I could go for ramen, too.” Shinso added. Itsuka didn’t care. She just wanted food, preferably free.

Tsubaki smiled and walked towards the back door. “Great! We can walk down to the village and have some of the world’s greatest ramen!” She declared.

“What village?” There wasn’t any village in this area. This was all city. The door slid open and Tsubaki pointed down, far past the courtyard. They walked out slowly and saw a fucking village complete with farmlands and forests.

She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again. Nope, the village was still there. “This village has existed for almost a thousand years and was founded by my ancestors to unite two warring clans. Other clans just kind of followed. Eventually, all the other clan bloodlines married into the Nara family and died out so the whole place belongs to us. We have a special status from the Emperor that allows us to exist like this.” Tsubaki explained as she began to lead them down a path and into the village.

It took all of twenty minutes before they were able to get to the ramen restaurant apparently called Ichiraku’s. “Some of the restaurants have been here for nearly as long as the village has existed. Ichiraku’s is one of them. The same family has owned and operated this place since it was first opened.”

The explanations went on as she pointed at the people walking around the village with a large amount of pride, it seemed peaceful and as Tsubaki had explained, everyone studied in the schools surrounding the estate but lived within the safety of the walls and forest. They weren’t completely isolated and ignorant of the outside world.

The table fell silent as bowls of ramen were placed in front of them and the three of them watched with morbid fascination as Tsubaki inhaled her larger than normal bowl seemingly without pausing to breathe, another one appearing just as she set it down. This went on until she reached her twelfth bowl where she sat back with a contented sigh.

“That sure hit the spot.” She said as she patted her still flat stomach. Where the hell did all that ramen just go? “When you guys are done, I’ll take you to the workshop which would probably be Hatsume-chan’s domain whenever she’s here. If she passes that Man’s test, then she’ll get her own lab in the workshop.”

Hatsume perked up and practically shoveled her food into her mouth. Itsuka sighed as she traded a glance with Shinso and began to eat their ramen as fast as it was safe to do so. Her eyes widened as the taste of what was easily the best ramen she had ever had, hit her taste buds.

* * *

There was a building set away from the village, closer to the forests, and labeled simply as **THE WORKSHOP**. Which was probably where all the labs were. Shiny new equipment for her own lab workspace and a brilliant scientific mind as a mentor? Mei could barely contain her excitement. Were those… finger and iris scanners? Voice and password protected… and a key card too! This shit was real and legit!

Her eyes scanned around and took note of the various equipment, some of which, she couldn’t even name. The numerous works in progress and closed doors. But it was also far too quiet. Where were the other scientists?

As if sensing her thoughts, Tsubaki turned to her with a sad smile. “The Workshop is nearly as old as Ichiraku’s… there was once a time when this place was brimming with great scientific minds but all that’s left now is just one man. He’ll give you a test and give you an interview, it’s been years since anyone has impressed him enough to be allowed to work in the lab.”

Mei blinked but nodded, the flames of science igniting her soul. One door swung open with a swish just like they did in the shows and an androgenous woman? Man? With snake-like features stepped in wearing a white lab coat. He paused as he took them in.

“Orochimaru, these are Hatsume Mei, Kendo Itsuka, and Shinso Hitoshi…” Mei tuned out the rest as she studied the man in front of her. This was the person she was going to have to impress if she wanted her own private lab in this building as well as the possibility of the Nara Family’s funding.

“He runs the village’s hospital, is one of the top doctors in the country, and has been responsible for a great number of inventions.” Tsubaki finally finished.

She watched Orochimaru turn to Tsubaki with a nod. “Tsubaki-sama, please take your other friends away for a little bit. I’ll begin the test.”

“Good luck, Hatsume-chan!” She said as she spun on her heel and grabbed the two on her way back out of the lab.

Orochimaru-san approached her. “Now then, girl. You may use this table as a workspace. I’ve set some materials for you to work with and I believe the amount to be adequate. You have two hours to impress me.”

Mei grinned at the man as she turned her eyes towards the table. Oh yes, she could work with this.

* * *

“Should we really be leaving Hatsume-chan with a stranger?” Kendo-chan asked.

Tsubaki blinked and turned to her friend. “It’s fine. Orochimaru isn’t going to do anything to her. Besides, we’d be more of a distraction to her.”

She continued to lead her new friends all the way down to training ground 15 for some more training, this time focused on evasion and speed, an obstacle course of sorts.

“Bakugou-chan… why does your family have multiple training grounds specialized for… uh…” Kendo-chan asked.

“Oh, this village was founded by two shinobi clans. After the restoration, quite a few of the samurai found their way here too and we’ve just kind of kept up with the traditions and training. The Emperor’s special dispensation means none interference so we’re allowed to train however we want.” She explained as she brought out a timer.

“Now, you guys are going to do this obstacle course and I’ll time you. Don’t worry about injuries, I’ll just heal you all with my quirk. 3,2,1, Go!”

* * *

Bakugou-san was crazy. Hitoshi decided as he finally reached the end of the course. The training ground apparently had at least 53 designed obstacle courses and she had made them run the whole thing. He winced as his sprained ankle reminded him of the nasty fall he took from the root he tripped on. The crazy blonde was staring at one of her timers with a smile.

“Two hours and thirty minutes. We’ll need to work on your time.” The blonde’s hands began to glow green as she allowed it to hover over his legs, the pain was gone in moments and he felt his strength return to him.

“The two of you will be soaring through different combat scenarios when I’m through with the two of you.” She declared. Hitoshi blinked. Maybe training wouldn’t be so bad after all if he would be able to ace the physical tests without any need for a flashy quirk.

* * *

Orochimaru was impressed. It had been a long time since he’d met anyone with such potential and with such a brilliant mind. If he could convince her to expand her repertoire outside of just the hero support items, then she could perhaps spark a new scientific revolution in the outside world. Such a wonderful mind from such a stagnant world.

“You pass.” He told her after her interview had concluded. Next was the village secret. He had been given special clearance to tell her about the village and chakra if she passed as soon as she finished signing all those non-disclosure forms. He grinned as he thought of all that he could teach her. Yes, he could see what Tsubaki had meant about Karin but there were also hints of Kabuto there.

* * *

One month and two other entrance exams later saw Tsubaki’s phone blowing up with messages from her friends. She and her brother were waiting for I-kun to arrive with his own results before they opened theirs together. She quickly scrolled through the group chat and smiled.

**[8:45 AM**

**From: Mei-chan**

**_I got into U.A. support course!!!_ ]**

**[8:47 AM**

**From: Itsuka-chan**

**_U.A. class 1-B here I come!_ ]**

**[8:48 AM**

**From: Hitoshi-kun**

**_I got in to 1-B Hero Course thanks to the rescue points. Did you know about that when you had us help you?_ ]**

**[8:48 AM**

**To: Exam Hell Group**

**_Congrats guys! And nope, didn’t know about it but teamwork has been ingrained in me for years and I kinda decided you guys were my teammates just before the exam began._ ]**

**[8:49 AM**

**From: Hitoshi-kun**

**_Thanks for thinking of me as a teammate then. So what class are you in?_ ]**

**[8:50 AM**

**To: Exam Hell Group**

**_Not sure. Haven’t even opened my results yet, my brother and I are waiting for I-kun to arrive so that we can open it together. I don’t even know if I passed._ ]**

**[8:50 AM**

**From: Mei-chan**

**_There’s no way you didn’t pass. Not with how high your points are._ ]**

**[8:51 AM**

**From: Itsuka-chan**

**_I second that._ ]**

**[8:51 AM**

**From: Hitoshi-kun**

**_Third._ ]**

Thankfully, Izuku finally arrived and Tsubaki smiled at him as he sat down with Katsuki on the couch. She motioned for the green-haired boy to go first and a holographic disc popped up before showing the overzealous All Might congratulating him on getting into UA with 134 points, 60 of which were rescue points.

Kacchan scored 150 points with 40 rescue points for saving the girl from the falling concrete. He sat smugly as he waited for her to open her letter. She smirked at him when it was announced that she had 330 points having beaten every single exam record. Tsubaki grinned at them but the best part was that they were all placed in the same class.

**[9:01 AM**

**Group name changed to UA Heroes]**

**[9:01 AM**

**From: Itsuka-chan**

**_YAY! Congratulations! What class are you in?_ ]**

**[9:02 AM**

**From: Hitoshi-kun**

**_Congratulations!_ ]**

**[9:02 AM**

**From: Mei-chan**

**_Way to go, boss! I knew you could do it!_ ]**

**[9:03 AM**

**To: UA Heroes**

**_Thanks guys! I’m in Class 1A with Kacchan and I-kun but you guys will be seeing me a lot!_ ]**

**[9:03 AM**

**From: Mei-chan**

**_You ain’t getting rid of us._ ]**

**[9:04 AM**

**From: Itsuka-chan**

**_Damn straight! You’re stuck with us forever._ ]**

**[9:05 AM**

**To: UA Heroes**

**_Don’t think you’ll be getting out of training. We have a month left for me to whip you guys into shape._ ]**

**[9:05 AM**

**From: Itsuka-chan**

**_Damn you!_ ]**

Tsubaki grinned. It was great to have her friends all in the same school as she was, and it was great to prove to get in through her own merits.

* * *

_Shoto dreamt of a sister with blonde hair that wasn’t Fuyumi-nee and a brother dressed in black that was neither of his older brothers. He dreamt of a desert and a village nestled within its heart. He dreamt of a man that was and wasn’t him staring into the mirror with a green kasa hat with the characters for wind etched at the front._

_He could feel his nerves despite the calm and serene façade he had on when his sister grinned as a knock on the door was heard. “Come in!” The woman called out. **Temari** , a voice in his mind whispered and another girl stepped in, this one was the same one he’d been dreaming off for years. Golden blonde hair and sky-blue eyes with whiskered cheeks and an impish smile on her face came in._

_“You should probably calm down, Gaara. I could feel you angsting and brooding even beyond the village gates.” This new woman called._

_“Naruto!” He heard himself say in shock and the voice sounded right to him. “What are you doing here?”_

_“Surprise, Gaara!” She said with a laugh as she stepped up to hug him. He tentatively hugged her back and allowed himself to hold her for what was longer than was probably proper, but he didn’t care. “What kind of friend would I be if I missed your inauguration?”_

_His cheeks were definitely heating up and oh wow, his heart was going faster than was normal as he hugged her tighter, his stomach fluttering. “Thank you for coming!”_

_“No problem!” Naruto said as she stepped out of the hug. “And just you wait, in a few years you’ll be coming to my inauguration.”_

_“I look forward to it.” He said with a smile and he meant it._

* * *

“Shoto, time to wake up!” He heard his sister call. His eyes snapped open, that’s right, his name was Shoto not Gaara. Those dreams had always been disorienting and the first few moments after waking up were always spent staring at the ceiling trying to figure out who he was. The dreams had become clearer and more vivid as the years went on, but he just couldn’t understand why. He shook his head and stood up. No time to wonder about it. It was time for him to get ready for his first day at U.A. High.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another late night/early morning work folks. Despite the fact that Katsuki's temper isn't as explosive as it is in canon, he's still pretty temperamental and prideful so I imagine that Gran Torino would be focusing on the ethics and legal side of being a hero because Kacchan would've already had the physical aspect down. I think it's more of trying to teach him how to regulate himself that's important so that he could be a great hero.
> 
> Shinso is now in 1B with Itsuka, Kacchan saved Setsuna Tokage, and Orochimaru took Mei under his wings to try and kickstart another technological golden age. More and more people are being let in on the Konoha secret, though not the chakra part, for the first time in centuries and Akio Nara is letting it happen because he believes that it was time for the younger generations to begin making their own power plays and to start preparing for the day when he retires or dies.
> 
> I have one question for you guys, should Kabuto be alive in this fic? Cause he has Orochimaru's secrets so he could theoretically be immortal and if he does live then he's going to be a good guy and I already have some ideas on what he's been up to. Also... did you guys catch the little part about one of the villains who will not be a member of the League anymore? I added his full name for a reason.
> 
> So, the teamwork idea and possible Tokage/Kacchan pairing came from one of my favorite NarutoxBNHA crossovers by STL Hero called the Guardian Chronicles, do be sure to drop by and read it, it's also on Fanfic and AO3. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter. Stay safe and healthy guys!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of school is here! The twins are naturally unapologetically showoffs and Tsubaki is just plain friendly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I don't own either BNHA or Naruto.

“I told you we weren’t going to be late.” Kacchan’s deadpanned beside her as they entered the classroom. They were still a full hour early but… it was the first day of a new school and they were at U.A.! Things like this didn’t happen very often, especially since they didn’t have their safety blanket of the same people that had been in their school/classes since daycare. Though admittedly, Izuku was the only person that was close to the twins.

Tsubaki turned to her brother, a sheepish smile on her face. “Ah, well… I’ll just go check in with Recovery Girl then.” She said as she watched her twin choose a seat and drop on to it with a shrug. She chose one that was purposefully away from him and towards the back so that she could at least befriend people without him hovering over her shoulders every single second the way he always was. She smiled at him as he raised a brow at her choice but didn’t say anything. And wow, Kacchan was starting to trust her… ish? Maybe? She shook it off and took off towards her mentor’s lair.

She slid the door open as gently as she could and with a bright grin and a loud voice, she called to her mentor. “Bakugou Tsubaki reporting for duty!” She declared with a salute, back straight like a proper soldier the way she had done many times for Tsunade and Kakashi whenever the situation called for it. She had only done it once for the Sandaime and that had been during his funeral when all the shinobi had saluted their Supreme Commander. And she had done it for every shinobi funeral and war memorial in the days and years that followed the war.

Of course, those thoughts inevitably led to her long tenure as Hokage. The tumultuous times brought by the Fourth Shinobi War, Kaguya, the Otsutsuki War, and time collapsing in on itself had severe repercussions. By the end of it, there wasn’t even an Elemental Nations. She had been forced to stitch what was left of it back together with the help of Koyuki, she remembered the compromises she had to make to create a semi-unified kingdom, one bloodline chosen above the others that remained and she had arranged the marriage between the Prince and Koyuki’s youngest child. There hadn’t been that many options left at the time because their people had been completely decimated, entire nations sat barren and devoid of life. As entire bloodlines were erased by time’s disruption and technology stopped working or ceased to exist altogether. For all the good that did… the lands descended into the _Sengoku Jidai_ not too long after she had died.

Still, the history of Japan as it had been could only be found in one place and that was in Konoha. She had gathered up every single scrap of history, the only proof of the _erased_ that they had. The more powerful shinobi were able to remember but those that hadn’t the capability to mold chakra were the ones who forgot first. All that history, all the advancements were gone in a matter of years. Those that she had shared her chakra with during the Fourth War were able to keep their chakra for a few generations but those that had survived the events intact were few and far in between. There was one thing that she had ensured would be erased from history, it had been a unanimous decision by those that had fought in the Fourth War. The _Edo Tensei_ and its variants had been expunged from history, all knowledge barred, and any records that even so much as alluded to it had been destroyed. The Bijuu aside, the only other people who even knew of it were Orochimaru, Katsuki, and her, not counting the White Snake himself who created the nastiest variant but as he had assured her time and again, he had destroyed his own records of the Jutsu.

* * *

Katsuki watched as his new classmates began to trickle in one by one, resisting the urge to dismiss him as he reminded himself of the words that Gran Torino had drilled into his brain. _‘Always assume that they’re stronger than they look and never assume that you are the strongest person in the world. There will always be others.’_ That was true. Tsubaki was stronger than he was in this life. The Bijuu were too. And while he had eventually surpassed Obito and Madara, he had only just barely handled Kaguya and the rest of the Otsutsuki clan members and that was despite having Naruto by his side.

He eyed the little grape boy with disgusted wariness as the boy’s presence practically screamed pervert to a worse degree than the Perverted Sage himself. And wow. That was a feat he didn’t think would be possible, the man had made it his mission to peep into every single women’s bath he came across and had written countless smut books, and who knows what else he had done. He sneered internally but outwardly remained calm as he put his legs on his desk, ignoring the indignant and angry exclamations from the glasses-wearing stick in the mud that was trying to lecture him. Sage help him, can’t the man just shut up. It was just a desk, not some sacred ground. He’d be more careful in those, at least. Memories of the adventures that the Uzumaki Mask Temple in Konoha and of Uzushio’s ruins had flittered through his mind and he resisted a shudder. He had known that going with Naruto was a bad idea, but he had felt so guilty after Aiko that he couldn’t resist her requests.

Someone came in and he felt the tell-tale signs of chakra potential, he angled his head and observed the newcomer with interest, this was the first person he had met that had the potential to mold chakra and what was more was his age. His classmate was most likely fifteen and though his chakra seemed untrained it was large and still seemed trainable, something that was practically unheard of. It was the reason the academy started so young. Once you reached a certain age, it would be virtually impossible to mold it if you hadn’t been trained. And his presence… something about him seemed so familiar, so… he couldn’t put the word to it, but he was sure he had felt this chakra before. Though that in and of itself wasn’t that unusual given the fact that descendants carried traces of their ancestor’s chakra which made it possible to determine a child’s bloodline if necessary, usually for a clan to claim a child.

His twin stepped in a few moments after that, bright and cheerful as always. Having kept track of her chakra, he knew that she had been spending some time with her three exam buddies. He saw the way the grape eyed her hungrily with a bit of drool going down his chin and Katsuki glowered, releasing an isolated but powerful amount of KI and directing it towards the tiny boy. The grape froze and began to sweat as he turned to Katsuki who glared at him. He knew his sister was pretty, easily the prettiest in the class if these were all of the girls but that was no reason to perv on her.

He noted his sister freezing as she stepped into the room, her brow furrowing just the little bit in confusion and her smile becoming fixed as she subtly scanned the room with a brief flick of her eyes and landing on the boy he’d noted earlier, all of which took place within the span of a second or less. He knew that no one else had caught on to it, no one else (save Deku) would have been able to. They weren’t trained for it, nor did they know her well enough to catch something like that. He said nothing as she began to introduce herself to everyone and charmed them into becoming her friend. He kept his KI up when it came time for the grape, Mineta, to introduce himself. He nodded in satisfaction when it went without incident.

* * *

There was someone else with chakra potential in this room, raw and wild and powerful. Not up to her or Katsuki’s standards but certainly well enough to compete with her grandfather and was _Kage_ level. What was more? It was familiar to her. There were hints of differences to it, but it was pulling on her consciousness, multiple things were trying to piece together in her mind as she glanced at her classmates and found a boy sitting beside her chosen seat. His whole body seemed to have been cut in half with his right side white-haired and brown-eyed and the other had red hair and teal eyes, a burn mark surrounded his left eye, there was something about him that seemed so familiar. He was eye candy material and easily the most good-looking boy in class, her brother didn’t count because… gross! He was quiet and just seemed intent on observing. Silent and broody type then.

Tsubaki began her rounds, introducing herself to her new classmates with a bright smile. Better to control the room and find a way to whip them into shape and get them used to her own brand of madness and teamwork from the very beginning. There was no way she was sending them out into the world to get themselves killed due to a simple thing as them not being to accept help from others and their inability to fight together. She was going to drill as much combat training, teamwork exercises, and first aid knowledge into their teenaged civilian minds as she could.

Saving her two would be seatmates for last, she approached them both with a bright smile, choosing to squash down her more inquisitive nature that insisted that she thoroughly interrogate him to figure out that strange familiarity. But the most worrying instinct that she had to ruthlessly cut down was this strange pull towards him, the desire to hug him and just touch him, that longing aching feeling that kept telling her that he was important to her, that she knew him… and in the face of a stranger, that was the most terrifying thing in the world.

“Hello! My name’s Bakugou Tsubaki.” She declared proudly and with a small bow before she turned her head to motion towards her brother. “And that grump over there is my twin brother, Katsuki.” She focused her attention back on them. “I hope we can be friends.”

The girl in front of her had dark hair pulled up into a spiky ponytail had smiled back at her. “My name is Yaoyorozu Momo.” She said by way of introduction, they shook hands with a smile before they both turned to the boy that she had been pondering over for the last few minutes.

He tilted his head and assessed her in a way that seemed all too familiar to her, but she kept drawing a blank. “I am Todoroki Shoto.” He said, his face neutral and voice flat. Todoroki, a name that was tugging at her for a whole other reason. God, this boy was just making her go mad. At least this was the last introduction she had to do. It seemed that everyone, with the exception of I-Kun, was already here.

She turned her attention to her brother as she took her seat and he turned to her as well. _‘Did you notice?’_ She asked beginning a mental conversation with him, at this point, only I-kun would be able to understand what they were saying.

_‘Yeah, I did. Any thoughts?’_

_‘None. It’s frustrating and I just met him.’_

_‘A descendant of one of the shinobi clans, perhaps?’_

_‘Maybe. Though I can’t recall any Todoroki’s in there.’_

_‘Doesn’t have to be his father, could just as easily have been his mother or a name that died out centuries ago.’_

_‘Point.’_

_‘Deku’s coming in.’_

She watched as Iida Tenya cut off his scolding mid-way to rush to I-kun who was caught off guard for all two seconds before his face fell into a serene smile and they began talking about the entrance test. Another latecomer arrived, a girl this time, cute as a bunny, round-faced and all. It seemed that I-kun had made his own friends during the exam and the girl was cute…

 _‘Don’t do it.’_ Her brother warned.

 _‘Don’t do what?’_ She shot back innocently.

_‘Match make!’_

_‘But why?’_ She whined.

_‘Tsubaki, no. Just no.’_

_‘Tsubaki, yes.’_ She shot back before her eyes began to plan so many scenarios, if that failed, well… there were plenty of other girls. Maybe Mei-chan or Itsuka-chan? Her eyes shifted to other girls in her class, contemplating them.

_‘Stop.’_

_‘Nope.’_

_‘Fine. You know what, I’ll let Deku deal with this.’_

_‘What are you going to let me deal with, Kacchan?’_ Their best friend had finally deemed it time to tune in to the conversation, perhaps alerted by the fact that she was plotting his love life.

 _‘Nothing, I-kun.’_ She said sweetly before her eyes drifted to the large yellow caterpillar wiggling its way to their door. It seemed their teacher had arrived, her eyes lit up as she took in the feel of the presence and realized who it was immediately. In the same way, she would have recognized Sir Nighteye even without having been forewarned that he was coming, she would also recognize the other man that had been the key to getting her away from her kidnappers. This was Eraser Head standing right in front of them.

* * *

Having introduced herself to Uraraka Ochako, the girl who had apparently saved I-kun from taking significant injuries or any injuries at all as he fell from his high jump. She assessed all her female classmates. The ratio currently sat at 1:3 for the females to males in her class, she didn’t expect that ratio to be any different in Itsuka-chan’s class either. It was reminiscent of the ratio for kunoichi to shinobi and perhaps had something to do with how physically demanding the test was too normal people.

“Well, that’s that. I’ve now met all of my new classmates.” Tsubaki told the girls happily as they moved out to join the boys in the field.

Yaoyorozu tilted her head. “Not everyone.” She said. “There was that boy that came in just before Uraraka-san.”

“Oh, him!” Tsubaki said with a smile. “That’s I-kun. We’ve known each other since we were fetuses. His grandfather was best friends with my grandfather and our mothers were raised together just like the three of us were.” She explained as she caught sight of Kacchan and I-kun standing at the front. She made a beeline for them and stood in the middle.

“Alright, now it’s time to assess your quirks.” Aizawa-sensei said as he stared at them.

* * *

Quirk Assessment Test was apparently Aizawa-sensei’s version of the bell test, only without the whole secret teamwork plot in the background. It even came with the whole spiel about how failing meant that you would be expelled/kicked out of the program. Honestly, she wasn’t that worried for herself or her brothers. Her other classmates, however… yeah, she didn’t think they’d caught on to the fact that it was all a lie. Yaoyorozu stared at their teacher with a calculating gleam in her eyes and Tsubaki knew that the other girl had figured it out, too. She threw the dark-haired girl a bright and meaningful smile to try to show her that she knew, too.

“Bakugo!” Aizawa-sensei called out.

She and her brother turned to each other then to their teacher. “Which one?” She asked.

“Girl Bakugo.” The man amended with a grimace. “You had the highest score in the physical component of the entrance exam, ever. What was the farthest you’ve ever thrown a ball in middle school?” She could see her new classmates eyeing her with wide eyes.

Tsubaki frowned. She assumed he was talking about her record without her quirk. “5 miles.” She told him.

“I meant without your quirk, Bakugo.” Sensei deadpanned.

“That is my record without my quirk. The women in our family are just naturally stronger. It’s been like that for centuries. We even have records dating back centuries of a woman in the family capable of punching a man through a few buildings. Granted she was pissed off at the pervert, but you get the point.”

“She’s telling the truth. The Old Hag… er our Mother’s quirk is glycerin but she can knock down a building with a single punch if she gets too pissed off. There’s a reason why we’ve had to rebuild our house at least 6 times throughout the years. Our grandmother, great grandmother, and so on were all the same.” Kacchan told him, bored of the conversation.

Aizawa stared at them with twitching brows. “Fine then, use your quirk and we’ll see how far you can throw this ball.” He said with a great sigh.

Tsubaki stepped up and assessed the ball in her hand before channeling her chakra. She threw the ball with some restraint, but it still caught fire from the speed. It disappeared from sight though she did hear it crash through a few walls. She winced. The walls probably helped to reduce the distance. Maybe she should have thrown it upwards instead.

“23 miles.” Their teacher said as he held up his phone. “And at least 3 walls.”

Everyone stared at her as silence descended in the class. Kacchan and I-kun didn’t seem bothered by it but given the fact that they had trained with her, they knew just how strong she could be.

“Next up. Boy Bakugo.” Aizawa said to break the awkward silence.

* * *

Shoto watched the Bakugo Twins as subtly as he could. There had been something niggling at the back of his mind the moment he had walked into the classroom and saw the male twin. Something about him seemed so familiar and it wasn’t until the female twin had walked in that some of the pieces slotted into place. The female twin looked almost like the girl in his dreams though her coloring was off and there were no whiskers on her cheeks, though she seemed as bright and cheerful as the person that often soothed his nightmares and turned them peaceful.

He watched as she placed first in every single one of the physical assessment tests with her twin often placing second, and their friend placing somewhere between third to fifth place depending on the test. It spoke to how well they knew each other that they didn’t even bat an eye at the scores presented but he could tell their teacher was getting slightly suspicious. The three were too good. Shoto had expected that he would place at the top for quite a few of these tests, if not all of them, but that was because, _That Man,_ had trained him from childhood. The twins were unapologetically setting a high bar for everyone with their almost inhuman performance. At least their friend still seemed to be within human standards.

He listened with a raised brow as Aizawa-sensei explained to them that he had basically lied to them about expelling the person who was in the last place. He was only slightly shocked but that was more through the blatant admission of a lie from their sensei, he had suspected something was up from the very beginning. He frowned when he saw that, apart from Yaoyorozu who had been explaining everything, the Bakugo Twins and their friend didn’t look surprised either. So, they had known all along.

* * *

Izuku walked to the school gate with the twins, half-listening as Tsubaki talked about their other classmates. Given that he’d been the second-to-the-last to arrive, he hadn’t really been able to introduce himself to anyone except for Iida. Even the name of the girl who was with him during the exam was unknown. Just as he thought that Iida-san came running up to them.

“I was a bit concerned about Aizawa-sensei’s approach to class, but I trust the school’s judgment…” Iida began. Izuku could see that Tsuchan’s eyes had begun to glaze over as they walked, probably getting lost in her own world. Her three entrance exam buddies had already left while their own trio was on their way to the Nara Estate for their start of semester celebratory dinner.

“Tch, that’s just how he can get all of you to take things seriously.” Kacchan said grumpily from Tsuchan’s other side. Probably still sulking about the fact that he had lost each test to his twin.

Tsubaki shook her head and seemed to zone back into the conversation before she paused and turned around. Her gaze tilted to the entrance where they began to hear the voice of one of their classmates coming closer. They all turned to see Uraraka-san running towards them.

She was panting from the effort but there was a bright smile on her face. Izuku felt his face heat up a bit at how cute she looked, and he could pretty much feel the smirk Tsuchan was throwing their way. Bad idea letting her see that reaction, he immediately replaced his smile with the same cluelessly serene smile his mother always wore.

“Uraraka-chan!” Tsuchan said brightly.

“It’s Bakugo Tsubaki, right? And Bakugo Katsuki?” She said as she looked at the twins. “And you’re Iida Tenya and er… Deku?”

Kacchan snorted. He shook his head. “That’s just the nickname Kacchan gave me when we were little. My name is Midoriya Izuku.”

“Oh.” She said sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I thought it was really cute and it sounded catchy, perfect for a hero name.”

That was a thought. Something to ponder on later. “Feel free to call me that, then. At this point, Tsuchan is the only one among our peers who still calls me something other than Deku.”

“Deku, it is!” She declared happily. “Are you guys on the way to the train station?”

He glanced at the Tsuchan who nodded. “Yeah. Do you want to walk together?”

“That would be great! I don’t really know that many people here, or at all. Yet.” She said with a laugh.

“Are you not from Tokyo, then?” Tsuchan asked.

Uraraka-san shook her head as they began to walk. “Nope, I was born and raised in the Mie prefecture. My parents are still there running the family business.”

“So, who do you live with?”

“My parents got me an apartment not too far from the school. I live alone on the weekdays. My parents come to visit over the weekend.”

Tsuchan frowned. “Well, we’ll have to schedule a girl’s day out with the rest of our female classmates.” She told her.

He felt a shiver run down his spine at the gleam of mischief in her eyes. _‘She’s not even trying to hide it!’_ He thought as he quickly scrambled to think of another topic, anything to divert the conversation from this so-called, day out. Kacchan was looking at him with pity. Whatever mischief Tsuchan was planning was probably going to be aimed at him.

* * *

“You’re home early, Niisan.” Shoto said as he caught sight of his eldest brother in the kitchen with their only sister.

His brother turned to him, one hand holding the bowl and the other mixing. “It’s your first day at U.A.! I had to be here to celebrate it!” He said with a grin.

Shoto’s lips twitched into a small smile. Their mother might be away from them and their father might be crap, but his older siblings never made him feel like he was missing out on any parental affection. He knew Natsuo felt the same.

Soon enough, all of them were sitting around the table. Their father was noticeably absent, so the atmosphere was light and happy. Shoto observed his siblings. Their chosen professions were shaped by the experiences that they had living under the same roof as their father. Touya-nii was studying to be a lawyer, he wanted to focus on civil law with a focus on family law; Fuyumi-nee was in the last year of her early childhood education degree, she wanted to help children and find those children from abusive homes early on; Natsuo-nii was studying psychology because he wanted to be a counselor or a psychiatrist, he wanted to help people like their mother.

Shoto… he was following his dream to be a hero; it was also the path that their father chose. That had left him conflicted early on but Touya-nii had sat him down and told him to stop thinking of things as though his dreams were merely their father’s desire. He had encouraged him to go to U.A. and at least see if the hero's life was for him.

“How was your first day at school?” Touya-nii asked.

Shoto pulled himself back to the conversation as his thoughts turned to the peculiar twins, specifically the female Bakugo twin and her introduction. “It went well, I suppose.” He said. He saw his brother deflate a bit, so he added hesitantly. “I think I made a friend.”

“You think?” Natsuo asked.

“She said that she hoped we could be friends.”

Fuyumi’s eyes gleamed. “She?”

“Yes. She introduced herself to everyone in the class and asked to be their friend.”

Fuyumi’s shoulders sagged but the smile on her face didn’t waver. “Oh, so she’s a friendly type. That’s nice.”

The conversation continued from there as he told them about the quirk assessment test and Natsuo told them about his new professors.

* * *

_“How can you still keep fighting?” He asked with a snarl as he tried to move away from the blonde who had him pinned to the ground._

_The girl gave him a sad smile. “Because I have people who are precious to me in the village. No matter how much they hurt me, I will keep protecting them for the sake of those few people. And if I give up now, they could die so I’ll keep fighting until you all surrender.”_

_“Precious people?” He asked hesitantly as he stopped struggling. The girl nodded. “Then you’re lucky to have them. I have no one.”_

_“That’s not true.” She said as her eyes turned to the side, he followed her gaze and saw Temari and Kankuro standing there, eyes worried and he knew that they had lost. Why were they still there? “They might be afraid of you but that doesn’t mean they don’t love you, otherwise they would have run away when they had the chance.”_

_Temari took out her fan as Kankuro shifted into a fighting stance, his puppet was missing. “Let him go.” His sister demanded. Golden chains shot out from the girl that had him pinned, it tangled around his siblings._

_“I can’t do that.” She said apologetically. “You invaded Konoha and now you have to face the consequences of your village’s actions for breaking our treaty. My clones have already begun to round up your people and the council will probably have your people pay through the nose after the terms are drawn up.”_

_His sister’s eyes showed fury and resignation as she stopped struggling. “I hope one day you can consider me a friend. All three of you.” She said as she glanced down at him with a smile. Her Uchiha teammate stepped up and put chakra restraints on Temari and Kankuro while her own chains wrapped around him and pulled him up._

_“A friend?” He whispered softly._

_“Yeah. Yours, if you want me to be.” She said with a small smile. His first friend. In defeat, Gaara had found something more precious than the blood that the voice in him kept craving. The thought of her brilliant smile had helped him ignore the voice every day since._

* * *

“I thought I’d find you here.” Katsuki heard his twin say but he kept his eyes on the memorial stone, one of the first of many. Eyes tracing the names there. It had been erected after Naruto had taken the hat. A memorial stone dedicated to the Uchiha Clan and, in particular, those that had been lost during the Massacre. At the very bottom of the list was the man that had done the deed but was the ultimate victim of the tragedy. _Uchiha Itachi_. There were other names there. His own and his daughter’s.

He finally tore his eyes away from his twin. “I never thanked you, did I?”

“Thanked me for what?”

“For taking care of my daughter after I died.”

His sister’s lips quirked into a sad smile. “It was a joy to take care of her and my children didn’t particularly mind. I took in a lot of children after the war if you could recall. My many fosterlings. Besides, Shikayasu certainly didn’t mind.”

Nara Shikayasu, one of her numerous children, had been completely besotted with his daughter from the very beginning. When he had come to terms with his past life, he had looked into the records pertaining to his daughter and hadn’t been all that shocked that she had married her best friend. Eventually, all of Naruto’s descendants had married into the major clans before it all merged into one last bloodline, the present-day Nara Clan. Oh, some of the branch lines from the clans still survived but those had been the purely civilian ones from the very beginning and so had no real say in the clan matters. They kept some of their lands and businesses but were otherwise happy to just hand every other duty to the Nara clan.

The longevity of the village could only be credited to the unparalleled teamwork between his sister and her husband. Tsunade had been focused on rebuilding Konoha after the invasions and the war. Kakashi had also overseen the reconstruction post-war during his term. But it was Naruto that had strengthened the ties of the Alliance, led them through war and multiple catastrophic events, stitched back the world as they knew it into a semblance of something, they were at least semi-familiar with, torn down some of the draconic laws that had been made during the foundation of their village when it had been necessary and implemented fairer ones that had endured to this day. Those very laws had helped them survive and carry on. The changes she had made with her husband’s advice had ensured that Konoha would still be standing here today. She had led them into a time of peace and held the tattered remains of the Elemental Nations together in her life.

He studied his sister again. He knew that the title of the head of the family would pass on to her and he felt nothing but relief at that thought. Despite her energetic and vibrant nature, she had been the better diplomat and the one more experienced when it came to dealing with bureaucracy and politics. Not to mention the paperwork that came with it. In this life, he couldn’t even hold down his temper and his personality was certainly more… explosively eccentric than the last. He lacked the reticent nature that Uchiha Sasuke had and was more prone to reacting much as his sister did. And he was certainly far louder than he had been in the past.

“You’re worried about something.” He noted as his sister frowned from where she was standing. A hand on Shikamaru’s gravestone.

She nodded contemplatively. “We ended the cycle of hatred between us, but we were still reincarnated. And this time, there was a significant gap. Every life we’ve lived, something monumental and possibly world-shattering had happened. If we’re back, does that mean something’s coming?”

“I hope not. But you’ve the better instincts. What are they telling you?”

“That we should be prepared. Our classmates too… I think there will come a time when the Shinobi of Konoha would need to step out of the shadows, and I think that day’s coming soon.”

Katsuki grimaced. Centuries of peace and the citizens of Konoha had known only D ranks with the occasional C and B ranks from their family’s security firm. There had been no call for an A or S rank mission in centuries. If something were to happen that would push them back into the light, then those mission designations would be revived. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that because the only thing he could think of was war.

* * *

_“What do you want to do today, Sweetheart?” He asked his daughter as he carried her through the streets of Konoha._

_Sarada pointed to the traveling performers. “I wanna watch the show.” His seven-year-old daughter said._

_“As you wish.” He said with a laugh as he held her up. They were showing the tale of Momotaro and he watched as his daughter’s eyes lit up with awe and excitement. His Sharingan activated as he committed it to memory._

_They went to Akamichi’s right after that for some lunch. His daughter chewed on the piece of barbeque thoughtfully. “Daddy. When will you be coming back?”_

_“I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, but I promise that I will do my best to be back before your birthday.”_

_“Okay.”_

_Sasuke frowned. “Hey, come on. Don’t be sad. I know that I’m not always around, but I promise you, that I am always thinking of you.”_

_“I know. You’re always away because you’re trying to protect the village but… I miss you all the time.”_

_He poked her forehead with a gentle smile on his face. “I miss you all the time, too.”_

_Sasuke thought of all the things he had to atone for, all the things he was trying to protect. It was a painful thing to be away from his family and Naruto had offered him a post back home in Konoha multiple times, but it had never felt right. Sometimes he would look, and he would see the ghosts of the past or his numerous crimes. Konoha might have changed after the times it had been invaded and destroyed but there were just some things he couldn’t let go off._

* * *

_She lay on the bed, eyes staring up at the ceiling with Shikamaru beside her. Her mind going over the last few hours from their wedding to this moment. **‘You’re not him. You’re not him! Why can’t you be him?’** She thought over and over, forcing her body still as she resisted the urge to turn away from her new husband as thoughts of red hair and teal eyes flooded her mind._

_Calm. Deep breath. Let go. You chose this. Don’t turn away. What will happen to your marriage if you turn away? If you begin it by showing your back and distancing yourself from your husband. Let to go of the past. She told herself as her hand tentatively went out to grab Shikamaru’s. He stiffened but didn’t pull away._

_“Do you think we did the right thing?” She asked tentatively._

_He turned to her, eyes incredulous. “Are you seriously asking me that after the extravagant wedding and the consummation of our marriage?”_

_“I just…”_

_“Are you having second thoughts?” He asked tersely and she flinched._

_“I know I’m not who you dreamed of marrying…”_

_“I could say the same for you.” He said drily._

_She gulped. “I just don’t want this to be a mistake. I don’t want you to start resenting me and have you living the rest of your life in regret and … just… you know, putting up with me.”_

_Shikamaru sighed. “We decided this together and don’t forget that we were friends first. This might not be what we had imagined our lives would be like, but this is where we ended up in. No matter what happens from here on out, we’ll tackle it together as a team. That’s what marriage is all about after all. You’re not alone anymore, Naru. You have a family now.” He said gently as he squeezed her hand._

_She smiled at him, her heart lighter. She didn’t turn away that night._

* * *

_“Do you ever regret it?” She asked as Auntie Tsunade pulled away to write some notes. Seeing the older woman’s raised brow, she clarified. “Do you regret not allowing yourself to try to love again? To try to have your own family?”_

_“Why do you think I spent so much time drunk? I was far too scared to allow someone else in, too afraid of feeling that pain again but I would’ve liked to have a child. I think.”_

_She hmmed. “With Kyofu?” She asked shrewdly._

_“Little brat. If he was alive, I would’ve gone on that date I promised him when he left for the last time… who knows how that could’ve ended. We would still be too old for kids but between you and Shizune, I think I’ve had my fill.” Tsunade ruffled her hair._

_Naruto sighed as she sat up. “How much longer am I going to be on bed rest?” She whined, utterly bored out of her mind._

_“Until you give birth. We have to be cautious of every pregnancy you have after…” Tsunade trailed off, her eyes apologetic as Naruto winced at the mention of Aiko. Shikamaru often took her on a short walk to see her daughter’s grave on the way to her checkups but after being put on bed rest, she had been forced to cut those visits off._

_He was overly protective after her breakdown and subsequent confession of a previous miscarriage, often hovering over her and checking on her at least three times every hour if he could get away with it. She had sighed in relief when he had been sent out on a mission a few days ago but now the loneliness was setting in, as was the hormones. Her mother-in-law was a good companion, but she was busy acting as the matriarch of the Nara Clan while she was on full bed rest._

_“Do you want to know the gender of the baby?”_

_She shook her head. “I’ll wait until Shika comes home. He deserves to be here for that, at least.”_

* * *

Katsuki stared at his sister who was fidgeting restlessly in her seat as the car drove on through the streets of Musutafu, heading towards their school. The Byakugou seal on her forehead was a hard-won thing, she had started retraining her chakra to the precision she had held in later years and it had only been in the last three years that she had been able to start relearning her iryo-jutsus. She was still a way off from being able to use the creation rebirth technique and the yin-yang release was something she could forget about unless she got the chakra from all the bijuu again. But she had been able to retrain as a sage after signing her summoning contracts.

Orochimaru had handed it to them a few days after Gran Torino had taken him on as an apprentice and they had carefully pursued the ones most likely to be useful. The snake and hawk had been a given, but he was still examining the others, waiting to see if there were any that called to him. He thought of his own skills and he grimaced at the memories of having to rebuild his chakra reserves and control. He didn’t have as hard of a time of it as Tsubaki, but it had still been hard-won.

“Todoroki!” His sister said as she sat up, eyes bright.

Their classmate? What about him? He shot a look at Deku.

“Todoroki, that was Touya-san’s last name!” Who? And how was he related to that half and half guy?

He gave her a blank look and she sighed in frustration. “You met him. Todoroki Touya was the one who got kidnapped trying to save me and was the one responsible for our escape.” She told them.

“That’s probably why Todoroki-kun seemed so familiar. We probably met him while I was in the hospital.” She said as she pounded a fist into her hand, nodding proudly all the while. Huh. Maybe she was right. At least they now had an explanation for that nagging familiarity. He vaguely had visions of red hair tipped white and pinkish raw skin on an older teen. Yup. That was definitely the explanation for the familiarity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how I feel about this. It was originally supposed to go up to the battle simulations but I'll save it for next time. Tsubaki might be clueless about boys but she doesn't put up with perverts and you all know how Deku and Kacchan will react to anyone who will try to perv on her. If Mineta isn't careful, he might just disappear one day or just get seriously beaten up. Yes, Japan transitioned into what it is now because of Naruto's efforts, can you think of all the chaos time collapsing would have caused. Entire bloodlines would've been erased!
> 
> So Shoto doesn't know that his dreams are a past life, though he'll start suspecting something as time goes on but for now, he just thinks it's all a coincidence. Katsuki and Tsubaki still look like Sasuke and Naruto but with different coloring so that'll lend more credence to it, and that's also the result of the intermarrying. Shoto on the other hand is descended from Kankuro. And also... the twins completely missed the mark on why he seemed so familiar. Now they're just going to think, oh, he's Touya-san's little brother and it'll be a while before they realize anything is up.
> 
> More flashbacks to give insight into the past. Sasuke was more present with Sarada because Naruto would often drag him back if he was away for too long, unless on a sanctioned mission so there was less awkwardness with his interactions with his daughter. And Naruto's life was happy and content despite the fact that she held on to her feelings for Gaara in the same way that Shikamaru never let go of his feelings for Temari, they just accepted their reality and chose to move on. Let me know what you guys think. Stay healthy and safe!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Combat simulation doesn't go well for Shoto. Tsubaki gives a gift and gets a permit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto or BNHA. Just putting it out there. Eh, some mildly implied sexual content in the flashback which you're all free to skip.

Shuzenji watched as her protegee examined Yagi using her quirk before snorting. She had barely done any real teaching with the girl, perhaps some theories on mental health and psychology, a bit of probing on her quirk, and getting her to come up with new and innovative ways to use her abilities. Sharing a student with an ancient almost millennia-old Doctor who was at the top of the game meant that she was so far ahead, at this rate, she was almost a fully fledge doctor in her own right, she was just lacking her credentials to practice unsupervised. Shuzenji would have to look into that.

Tsubaki’s hands stopped glowing as she stepped away from the man. “How are you feeling?” She asked, tone polite but brooking no argument. The same no-nonsense tone that Doctors usually had with repeat patients.

“Much better than when we first began treatments a few months ago.” Yagi said with a grateful tone as he sat up. “I’ve been able to hold on to my form longer now but…”

“I’d advise you not to.” Tsubaki said drily. “You should be able to have your surgery soon but… you will need some downtime to recover, even with my quirk helping it along. I also highly doubt you’d be able to keep up even with your longer form and better health, your body will need to readjust to everything and you’re just running on embers now. Your original quirk should hold true to you, though.”

Yagi sighed. “There’s that, at least.”

She wrote down her notes in shorthand and then wrote another copy, this one was written in cypher for her own personal copy. The first copy was given to Shuzenji who put it away in her own files. Shuzenji glanced at her clock and then to her student. There was still at least forty-five minutes before the students began arriving.

Catching her eye, Tsubaki grinned. “I have a meeting with Principal Nedzu in a few minutes, so I’ll have to rush off.”

* * *

Nedzu glanced at the girl in front of him. A bright and promising student who Shuzenji had been itching to get at since the girl had been five. The girl was the only person he knew who had ever turned down a recommendation and had been determined to get in by her own merits. Admirable but also risky, the girl would’ve turned down her spot in U.A. if she had felt like she didn’t deserve to be here and given what little he knew about her quirk, it wasn’t something he’d like to push away, not when Recovery Girl had been hinting at retirement soon.

“All the papers seem to be in order. Here is your provisional permit for quirk use. I must remind you that this is being given to you on the basis of your healing abilities…”

“Don’t abuse the loopholes, you mean?”

“Indeed. Use this responsibly because such a permit isn’t given lightly.” He told the girl. She gave him a bright smile and nodded her head enthusiastically. Somehow, he felt as though the girl wouldn’t really resort to using her quirk in combat or to show off anyway. Given her supposed supernatural strength and speed that weren’t fueled by her quirk… she probably never really relied on it that much. “Now then, was that all or did you need anything else?”

The girl hesitated before she took a deep breath. “I want to give Aizawa-sensei a gift, but I don’t know if that would be allowed.”

Nedzu blinked. “Come again?”

“I want to give Aizawa-sensei a gift.”

“Why?” Was she going to suck up to her teacher and hope that Aizawa would go easy on her? Eraserhead wasn’t the type of person to get suckered into such things.

“He saved my life when I was five and I didn’t get to thank him. He disappeared after the police took me to the hospital and my family all want to thank him, too!”

“Some would argue that as a hero, he was just doing his job.” He pointed out.

“I know. But we’ve already thanked the police and Sir Nighteye, the other hero that saved me. Now it’s just Sensei and the boy that carried me out, but I think I know how to get in contact with Touya-san, I just need to confirm it.”

He eyed her again. “Very well, as long as it’s not something that you or your family has bought and if you can ensure that it would be seen as fair to the other teachers as well, perhaps something that could be shared by all of them too. If it meets the criteria, I’ll allow it.”

The girl smiled brighter this time as she stood up and began bowing in thanks before making her way to the door with a quick farewell. What a sweet and earnest child. And such a powerful one as well. It was fortuitous that she and her twin were under the careful watch of the heroes of the academy. Their quirks were perhaps even more powerful than the stockpiling quirks of One for All and All for One. That All Might’s chosen successor was in the same class and was their best friend only added to their luck. The twins would be able to deflect any questions about Young Midoriya’s quirk.

* * *

Izuku was watching videos on the latest villain attack and jotting down his analysis while Kacchan napped in his seat when Yaoyorozu walked in. He gave her a wave before he returned to his notes mentally debating on whether or not he should wake up Kacchan before deciding against it. They had woken up early so that Tsuchan would be able to examine All Might before any of the students wandered into school and to get her special provisional permit.

Add that to the fact that the two had been busy filling out some more of the paperwork for the administrative side of Konoha and helping their grandparents revise and summarize some of the proposals for the multiple businesses that the Nara Family owned meant that they had gotten to bed late that night. Izuku’s paperwork had been considerably lighter given that he wasn’t really set to inherit that much from the Nara Family (it was still a big amount but compared to the twins…).

Tsuchan walked in next, carrying the notebook she’d encrypted filled with All Might’s medical history and a few other documentations, likely for her permit. She sat down beside Yaoyorozu and chatted with the girl for a few minutes. Izuku heard them talking about a girl’s outing and sighed. A part of him feeling cautious at the thought of them all teaming up unsupervised but shook it away. Whatever his sister in all but blood was planning, it wouldn’t be harmful, just potentially embarrassing. He heard her talk about Kendo-chan and Hatsume-chan and figured that they would probably be invited as well. At least between Kendo and Yaoyorozu, they would hopefully be reined in.

* * *

Tsubaki took out some sheets of paper and a mechanical pencil and began working on her seals. The thin bond paper and the lead pencil was nowhere near as effective or powerful as using the dip brush and thick paper, but it would do, especially in a school setting. Fuinjutsu could be a dangerous art and she constantly had to control how much chakra she infused with it and using the lowest grade tools meant that it would be easier for her to correct her seals and lower the damage if she didn’t catch her mistake in time.

She had smiled at the comments of her classmates on her beautiful calligraphy and handwriting, not bothering to correct them. Her quick burn seals would probably come in useful for her hero classes. She had a few medical-related ones hidden away somewhere as a precaution, but she was working on creating ones that could be infused with her chakra so that they could be used by a non-chakra wielder and personalizing it to lock on to the person she had given it too, she knew they would most likely be quick burn seals too, despite the quality of the materials she would be using.

She set a few of her papers aside, her hiraishin formulation was still a work in progress, specifically how to transfer and tag things without the use of paper and ink but with just a touch. She was also working on converting it to carry as many people as she could. There were quite a lot of things she needed to do work on because at her current state she wouldn’t be able to bring even a single person with her if a dangerous event occurred.

And there was also the worry of Katsuki’s Sharingan. Without a replacement set of eyes, her twin could go blind if it ever evolved into the mangekyo. She had made provisions in her past life that after the death of each Sharingan user, their eyes were to be destroyed. The memory of Danzo’s atrocities had been very clear in her mind and even Sasuke had agreed that it would be for the best that such a thing wouldn’t happen again. She would probably need to talk to Orochimaru to talk about her twin’s options.

She put away all her notes when she sensed All Might’s presence draw closer. Another thing for her to add to her ever-growing to-do list. Thank the Sage that she was able to use her bunshins or she never would have been able to spend as much time with her children as she had in the past.

She let her teacher’s voice wash over her as she carefully analyzed the Pro Hero for any signs of pain, she knew he was in but couldn’t find any. He was just as good as she was at pretending to be _ok_. She remembered confronting her darker nature under the waterfall, remembered finally accepting and letting go of the anger and hatred that she had always pushed aside for the good of the many, for her own good. Mental health and psychology were concepts that didn’t exist in the shinobi world of the past otherwise so much of what had led to all those tragedies would have been averted.

Sasuke would have gotten the help he needed, the White Fang wouldn’t have committed seppuku, Kakashi sensei wouldn’t have been such a wreck. And Nagato? The other Uchiha? Obito? So much of what had led to the fourth war could have changed, perhaps even averted. And… she wouldn’t have been unknowingly choking on her own darker emotions, smothering and drowning under all of those dark thoughts.

That she had come out saner than her other teammates (and the vast majority of the other shinobi) was a miracle. But in no way would she have considered herself fully sane, as Shika had often teased her. She stood with her classmates as they approached the cases with their new hero costumes. She had chosen an outfit reminiscent to some of her old ones. Black shinobi tights, shinobi sandals, a long orange kimono top, and a wire mesh armor underneath it. The Uzumaki clan’s spiral and the Senju’s vajra stitched on the hem of each of her sleeves.

Katsuki’s was something of a cross between a joke and a serious attempt at creating something to augment his explosive quirk and the three of them had enjoyed creating mockups of his costume with some pointed and mischievous hints from their parents. At home, he still sometimes wore some of the more formal and traditional clothing that Uchiha Sasuke wore just as she tended to dress up in outfits similar to Kushina and Minato as had been her want in her youth. Their parents never minded, knowing that they had loving parents but had spent their entire lives entangled in tragedy and war. Their parents had been determined to give them the childhood they never had, even if neither of them had the innocence that normal children did.

* * *

Katsuki’s brow twitched as he listened to the grape began to sprout his perverted fantasies about peeping on the girls as they changed. More specifically, peeking on **his sister**. He released a rather toxic amount of KI and some explosions while Deku began to crack his hands as they both approached the tiny pervert who pulled back with a scream of pain when their classmate’s earphone jack poked him in the eye.

He grabbed the boy and held him above the ground without even having to strain himself. “Listen carefully. If you or any of the other boys try to perv on the girls, specifically my sister, I will destroy you and end your hero careers before it can even begin. Do you understand?” He growled out before he scanned the others who nodded. Todoroki was impassive, the others seemed mildly concerned but not by much because they were too busy throwing looks of disgust at the tiny boy in his grasp, Pikachu was gulping and nodding eagerly too, while glasses was nodding approvingly.

They began their walkout to the training grounds to regroup. His twin immediately gravitating towards him, her hand grabbing his with a calming squeeze to help him regulate himself. Her chakra wrapping around him and Deku soothingly as though giving them an embrace.

It was with some delightful luck that he had gotten chosen to fight up against Deku. He grinned at his sister in triumph. “No fair! I wanted to fight up against at least one of you!” She whined and pouted.

“Too bad, so sad. Bye!” He said as he walked away from her to walk to the entrance with All Might and glasses.

* * *

He glanced at Uraraka-san as they began their walk to the entrance. “Whatever you do, don’t engage Kacchan, leave him to me and focus on getting past against Iida-san and to the weapon.” He told her.

“But wouldn’t it be better if we took on Bakugo-san together?”

Izuku shook his head. “I know him better than anyone in this class with the exception of his twin. I can at least predict his moves and I have enough experience in fighting him and taking hits from him. Besides, you’ll probably be a better matchup to Iida. So long as he can’t catch you, you should be fine. But let’s try to go undetected for as long as possible, okay?”

Uraraka nodded with a smile. “Hai!”

* * *

“Ano, Todoroki-kun…” He heard the female Bakugo twin address him as she stepped closer. He turned to address her with a raised brow.

“Are you by any chance related to…” As soon as Shoto heard those words, irritation rose in him as his father was being brought up by a classmate who had obviously discovered his heritage within the span of two days, and then it was blown away when she had mentioned a name that was definitely not his father’s. “Touya-san?”

His eldest brother? Shoto eyed the girl curiously as he nodded. “He’s my eldest brother.”

The girl smiled brightly, eyes sparkling with excitement as she proceeded to detail his brother’s appearance to confirm it. He nodded, ignoring the flutter in his stomach from her smile. “He saved my life when I was little.” She explained before pausing again. “Can you pass on a message to him?”

He nodded again and before he knew it, he was being hugged by the blonde, he froze as pandemonium broke out around them and he tried not to think about how her br…er chest was pressed against his. “Arigato!” She exclaimed.

“Todoroki you perverted bastard!” Mineta screamed out.

“My, how bold, Bakugo-chan!” Ashido exclaimed with a giggle. And there were more comments along that vein even after the girl pulled away. He cleared his throat.

“What message did you want to pass on?” He asked.

The girl shook his head. “That was it. Please, give him a hug and tell him thank you for me. Thank you for saving my life and for making sure I got home to my family.” She said quietly before turning to address the other girls and laughing it off with an explanation of having him pass on a message to a family member.

* * *

Ochako had tried not to question or feel insulted by Deku’s words about not fighting Bakugo-kun even given his rationale but conceded to it in the end and had even agreed with the plan he had come up with. Now, watching the fight between the two childhood best friends, she understood why Deku had been adamant about not having her fight him. There was no way she could match up against _that_!

She watched as Deku was flung through a concrete wall, a large hole left in the wake before he stood up and began to engage the blonde in a match. She tried to be as unobtrusive as possible to allow her to get past and each time Bakugo-kun turned to her, Deku would attack to draw his attention away, his muted dark green costume blending in with the shadows at times. She was not going to be able to go up against her classmates soon. Especially against Bakugo-chan who was stronger than her brother physically.

So instead, she focused on the plan and tried to mentally prepare herself against Iida.

* * *

“Hero team wins!” All Might declared as they watched the conclusion of the fight between the two best friends. They sprung apart and bowed before holding out a hand for a shake. I-kun made his way to his teammate and helped her back to the center to regroup. Despite having her permit and being within the school grounds, she still thought it best to ask permission.

“Permission to use my quirk, Sensei?” She requested as soon as her classmates returned to the control room. All Might nodded and she approached Uraraka first to check on her, thankfully, the symptoms of quirk overuse had already faded, and she merely gave the girl some water before she turned to her boys.

They were bruised and cut up from their fight but nothing worrying. Hands glowing green, she ignored her classmates’ curious eyes as she turned to I-kun first and healed some of the burns from Kacchan’s explosions. The gasps from her classmates as his injuries faded was replicated as she’d turned to do the same to her twin before finally examining Iida who had assured her that she was uninjured. She pursed her lips and placed her palm on his forehead as she had with Uraraka, allowing her chakra to give a scan. She stepped back and nodded curtly.

“They’re all fine now, Sensei.” She said.

* * *

Tsubaki found herself as part of the villain team with Ojiro and Hagakure fighting up against Todoroki and Shoji. The fact that they were given some time to plan meant that they would be able to fight up against them meant that she could make things interesting. She smiled at her two teammates before she began to plaster her seals everywhere, ignoring the questions being thrown her way. They hadn’t noticed the genjutsus she had been subtly crafting but they would definitely notice the one she was about to create.

“We have a few minutes, be on your guard. We don’t know what their quirks are.” She said as she crafted an illusion of another bomb before plastering the real one with one of her inactive seals.

She smiled at them. “You two probably didn’t notice it but I’ve been creating illusions along the way so that should hopefully keep them distracted. I’m not sure what Todoroki’s quirk is but given what his older brother told me years ago, I’m preparing for both ice and fire. Shoji is a wild card, and I may need Ojiro to deal with him while I fight against Todoroki. Hagakure-chan, you’ll be our last line of defense. I’ve scattered the capture tapes around the room. Use it if you can but stand guard over the bomb.”

She heard their determination as they said yes. As soon as All Might gave them leave to start, the temperature dropped and the wall and ceiling that she hadn’t plastered seals on had iced over. The floor was a bit colder but was thankfully not encased in ice.

* * *

“What is she doing?” Yaoyorozu asked as she turned towards Bakugo-kun and Midoriya.

Bakugo smirked as he watched his twin. “This should be an interesting fight. Her opponents won’t stand a chance if she takes them seriously.”

“What?”

“You know how the Miko, Priests, and Monks create sacred sutras?” Midoriya asked. She nodded and saw the others glance at them curiously. “Well, she’s applied that concept and has infused her energy into what she calls seals. The art itself is called Fuinjutsu. She’s also used her energy to create some illusions to confuse her opponents, hence the sudden appearance of the other bomb.”

That was mildly terrifying. Facing up against her meant that you couldn’t trust your eyes and had to be prepared for whatever her imagination can come up with. But wait… she glanced at Bakugo-kun. “Can you do that too?”

“I can do both but fuinjutsu isn’t my specialty. I’m more inclined to illusions which is my sister’s weakness. Simple illusions like this are something she could do, though.” The hot-tempered blonde explained without glancing at her.

* * *

“One side of the building didn’t freeze.” He heard his partner say. He blinked and slowly walked back outside to see that, yes, the left side of the topmost floor was nearly untouched by his ice. But which one had done that?

He turned to his partner and nodded for him to follow along. This was going to pose some challenge then. In truth, he was weariest of Bakugo, something about her and her brother set him on edge and something inside of him was telling him that they were more powerful than anyone he had ever met. It was that hindbrain instinct telling him that they could become predators with a flick of a switch.

They continued down the hallway and slammed into an unseen wall. He frowned as he felt along the barrier and felt only the cold of the stone, he allowed his ice to engulf the barrier and traced the corners of the barrier… no, it was a wall. “Someone on that team created an illusion.” He told Shoji.

“That means we can’t trust anything that we see.”

“Or hear.” He added as they made their way up. None of the three had come to confront them which probably meant they were sequestered with the weapon. “Will you be able to detect Hagakure?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then we’ll have to be doubly careful then. I’ll take on Bakugo, you take Ojiro, and keep our senses sharp against Hagakure.”

“Understood.”

* * *

“Well, you took your time.” She said as she eyed the two that had just entered. Logically speaking, she could’ve just created some barrier seals, but she wanted to give her classmates a chance to show their skills.

Neither answered her but began an attack. Todoroki gave a faint and she let him, watching with some amusement as his hands passed through the weapon, dispelling the illusion and he slammed face-first into the wall. She grinned. If they wanted her to play the villain, so be it. The shinobi were always someone’s villain, after all.

She dodged all his ice attacks with a frown. He was far too reliant on his quirk. She threw a few fast hits and watched as one caught him in the stomach. He staggered back, winded before regaining his composure. They both heard Shoji’s grunt and a quick glance showed him getting wrapped and restrained by the capture tape held by invisible hands while Ojiro had him in a leg lock. Deciding to end things, she upped her pace before jumping high and flinging the capture tape through the air as he went in for a hit. It caught him by surprise as she quickly ran to wrap him in the tape before throwing the tape over a beam and pulling him up, gravity and restraint seals slapped on him.

“The Villain Team Wins!” All Might boomed.

* * *

Tsubaki sent a bunshin ahead to secure a table for the entire class and her friends, even if it meant some shuffling of the tables. The whole point of this was to ensure that they would be able to bond after all. She grabbed her food and dispelled her clone as she sat down, allowing the memories of her clone’s polite redirections to integrate within her mind. She called out to her classmates as she saw them, waving them over to her table and making sure to leave some seats open for her exam buddies and whomever they decided to bring with them.

“How are you and your twin so different, Bakugo-chan?” Kirishima asked. “You’re like an angel and he’s the devil. Midoriya is like the poor human that the two of you are pulling along.”

She laughed at the description. “Kacchan’s gruff but he’s a softie deep down. He likes you all a lot!” She said cheerfully even if that was a bit of an exaggeration.

“You mean he’s a tsundere?” Todoroki said blandly. I-kun choked on his food before the two of them glanced at her twin who was the last to make his way to their table.

“You can say that, yeah.”

“The three of you were so cool!” Uraraka-chan gushed, redirecting the conversation away from her explosive twin before he could hear what they were saying. “You’re all so powerful and strong! And it’s not just your quirks either!”

“That’s the result of a lot of extensive physical training that began when we were children.” She said.

“Tsubaki-chan!” Itsuka-chan’s voice called out over the din. She turned and gave a grin as she waved her friend over. She was accompanied by Shinso and two girls she didn’t know. Mei was also rapidly approaching them.

“Ara, introduce me to your friends, Itsu-chan!” She exclaimed as they took some of the open seats and that was how she met Tokage Setsuna and Kodai Yui who would get dragged into the same insanity that the entire class 1A and her exam buddies would get engulfed in, namely teamwork training through extreme combat situations. The very same training simulations that would have them questioning the sanity of the Bakugo twins and their long-suffering best friend. But none of them knew that yet.

* * *

“How was your day, Shoto?” Fuyumi-nee asked as they all sat down for dinner. Their father was thankfully absent once more. Of course, the events of the day flooded through his mind including…

“Shoto, you’re blushing.” Natsuo said teasingly. “Did a girl catch your eye?”

Shoto didn’t respond but glanced at Touya. “Do you know someone named Bakugo Tsubaki?”

Touya brightened immediately. “Yeah, but how do you know Tsubaki-chan?”

“She’s in my class.” Their two other siblings were watching them with furrowed brows.

“She was adorable as a little girl and I always thought that she would grow up to be very pretty.”

He blushed deeper. “You think she’s pretty!” He kept his mouth shut and refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

“She asked me to pass along a message to you.” He got up from his seat and gave his eldest brother an awkward hug.

“Uhh, Shoto?”

“She gave me a hug and asked me to pass that along to you, and she also told me to say Thank You for saving her life.”

Fuyumi smiled wide, eyes glinting with mischief. “She hugged you. Are you sure she wasn’t looking for an excuse to touch you?”

The memory of how her body felt pressed against him was ruthlessly stamped out. “No.”

* * *

_Gaara sat up, the blanket pooling on his lap and leaving his chest bare, he glanced out the window and saw the full moon. One more day and then it would be goodbye. He felt her shift as she sat up, arms sliding around his waist as she pressed her face to his side. He shifted his arm to pull her closer to him._

_“Stop thinking.” She demanded. “In my apartment, just for now, just this once. The outside world doesn’t exist. Okay? It’s just us, we’re all that matters in this moment.”_

_So bossy and demanding, he told her so before he pressed a kiss to her hair, hand reaching out to catch the slap she was aiming to deliver. “I don’t want this to end.” I don’t want to go out there and say goodbye. I can’t have you. This is the only time we’ll ever have, and I don’t want to give up on our love. He thought._

_She sighed and shifted until she was on his lap, their skin bare as his eyes met cerulean blue, and oh, the understanding and love that was there was enough to freeze him in place. Her hand traced the characters of love that he had etched over his eye years ago. “You carved this out of negative emotions, desperation, anger, loneliness, confusion, and so much more.” She said as she leaned in, her warm breath on his forehead as she spoke. “But whenever you see it now, whenever you look at your reflection, whenever you touch it. Just think of it as a representation of how I feel for you, how I’ll always feel for you. Of how much **I love you**.” She kissed it tenderly before she pushed him back down to the bed._

* * *

Shoto’s eyes snapped open, breathing heavily, face flushed, and feeling distinctly uncomfortable. “What the hell was that?” He said quietly because somewhere along the way, the woman’s eyes shifted from blue to red and her hair turned ash blonde. He had no business imagining his classmate naked and, in his bed, doing things like that. His siblings' teasing was to blame, he told himself. And Bakugo-chan for hugging him as well.

* * *

Tsubaki yawned tiredly as she sealed the last of the food into her one-time storage scrolls and labeled them before putting them in separate baskets. Surely Todoroki wouldn’t mind taking one of the gift baskets she and her family had put together as a thank you present for his older brother and Aizawa-sensei. She added the pictures of her family, letters from every member of their family, and the handmade card that she had made to their respective baskets and went to bed.

She would have finished earlier if it hadn’t been for her meeting with Orochimaru. Apparently, the operation could go ahead as early as next week. She yawned and tiredly made her way to her room. It seemed her parents had begun to consider moving back into the estate, even if nothing was final yet. She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

* * *

_Their feelings blossomed and grew through the nights they spent playing shogi to stimy her boredom from her bed rest. They had spoken a lot, sometimes just to pass the lessening awkwardness that still sprung up from time to time, if a lot less frequent now. Kakashi had restricted Shikamaru from missions outside of the village because she could give birth at any moment. Thankfully, she wasn’t going to be forced to give birth in a cave as her mother had been, despite the fact that they didn’t have a seal master for the simple fact that they didn’t need one. Kurama had no intentions of escaping and leaving her until she was dead. Whenever that may happen. Though if Kurama and the other bijuu had any say in it (which they apparently did), it wouldn’t be for a long time yet._

_It was just as Shikamaru had made his move that Naru felt another sharp pain hit her and then her kimono became damp. The pain erupted again. She turned to her husband. “I think the baby’s coming.”_

_Shikamaru had flipped the board away and was at her side in an instant, grunting as he picked her up. “You’re so…”_

_“If you call me heavy, I’ll punch your lights out and just start screaming until someone comes to pick me up.” She threatened. He gulped and nodded before taking off._

_What followed was a few hours of pushing and praying to the Sage that her baby would survive. Shikamaru was a steadying presence beside her as he wiped the sweat from her brow. She grunted as she gave another push before she felt her baby slip out. She held her breath for a moment before a loud cry engulfed the room. She burst out crying._

_Shika kissed her forehead and cried. “You did well, Naru.”_

_“It’s a boy.” Tsunade declared. “Do you want to cut the cord, Papa?”_

_Shikamaru nodded and before she knew it, Sakura had taken their baby to the other side of the room to wash him off while her aunt examined her and delivered the after birth. Sakura was back within moments, her baby loosely swaddled and placed on her bare chest directly over her heart. Wisps of dark hair peeked out and the wrinkled skin of her baby greeted her sight._

_“He’s perfect.” She breathed out._

_Shikamaru shifted her so that she could lean on him. “What should we call him?”_

_“Shikadai.” She whispered. Following her husband’s naming tradition but choosing to imbibe the character for great in his name. The Great Deer, her son’s name meant._

_“Shikadai, it is.” He agreed quietly. It was so different from when she had given birth to Aiko. She had been (not quite) alone and mourning and just so broken that she felt as though her whole world had stopped. And for the first time since she had lost her daughter, she felt like she could breathe again._

_She turned to her three doctors. “Baby, meet your Granny Tsunade, Auntie Shizune, and Auntie Sakura. Everyone, meet Shikadai Nara.”_

_Tsunade beamed at her before turning to the door. “Shall I let the others in?” She asked. Naru laughed as she felt the flickers of chakra from her important people and their significant others. The youngest baby of her group. There had been a lot of oops babies that had come about from those that had been there at her wedding. Inojin and Chocho to name a few. It had led to quite a few resettlements as the pregnancies had been brought to light. In Karui’s case, it had accelerated her relocation and Choji’s proposal by quite a few months. Naru nodded._

* * *

“What’s this, Bakugo?” Aizawa sensei asked her as she plopped one of the baskets down on his desk the next day. There was still some time before class began but she was just so eager to give it to him. The other teachers watched and blinked. “We aren’t allowed to accept gifts from students.”

“You are if I asked permission from Principal Nedzu, and I did, three days ago.”

“Why are you giving me a gift basket?”

Tsubaki smiled at her teacher who stared at her smile before shaking his head. “About ten years ago. There was that quirk ring case where a teenager and a little girl escaped. You stopped the villains that were shooting at them. I was that little girl.” She explained. “And my family and I wanted to give you something small as thanks for saving me that day. If you hadn’t arrived, we probably would’ve been shot to death or recaptured.”

“A simple thank you, would have sufficed.”

She shook her head. “Maybe to you, but not to us. It’s a small thing but we wanted to show you how much we appreciate what you did that day. We’ve already thanked all but two people. You and the boy that carried me out of there.”

“I assume that’s who the other basket is for.” Aizawa sensei said as he eyed the basket in her hand.

Her eyes flickered to it. “Yeah. It was Todoroki-kun’s older brother. He tried to stop me from getting kidnapped but got kidnapped himself. And even carried me out and protected me, used his quirk despite the fact that it hurt him to do so.”

Her homeroom teacher sighed as he opened the basket to see sweets at the very top and… “Scrolls?”

“Storage scrolls. They’re one-time use but so long as you don’t open them, they should keep all of the food in there preserved indefinitely. I made enough to last a whole month!” She said. “And don’t worry. We didn’t buy anything.”

“Sake?”

“From my grandfather’s collection.”

“The pictures and letters?”

Tsubaki grinned. “To remind you of the people you had indirectly helped when you saved me. Because those numbers do add up once you started going beyond those that you had directly saved.”

“Very well, thank you.”

Tsubaki walked away with a smile and… _‘He reminds me of Kakashi sensei without the porn and some of Iruka sensei mixed in without the coffee.’_ She thought.

* * *

“So.” Hizashi said as he opened one of the cookie packs. “Do you want to open them now or later?”

Nemuri leaned over. “I’m more interested in the sake. And since it’s Friday, why not open it up tonight. Have a little gathering between the three of us?”

“I’m down for that.” Hizashi agreed happily. “I don’t get a say in this, do I?” Shota asked eyeing his longtime friends who shook their heads. Whatever.

Toshinori Yagi strolled over to them in his ill-fitting suit. “She’s trying so hard to make sure that the people that had helped her that day would never have cause to regret it.”

Shota thought of the girl with a smile so warm and wide that it had been like he was staring at the ghost of Shirakumo for just a second and then his eyes flickered to the picture of the girl and her family. Like a flame that still burned brightly. How could he ever regret saving an innocent child, especially if they turned out like her.

The bell rang. It was time to deal with his little demons.

* * *

“What’s this, Shoto?” His father asked.

Shoto glanced at the basket. “It’s for Touya-nii. From my classmate.” He said before handing it to his older brother who blinked. “Her family’s way of saying thank you for saving her.”

Touya-nii nodded and brought out some sweets and a picture. Their father left in disinterest at the number of sweets that had been packed into the basket. “I was right.” He heard Touya-nii say. “She did grow up to be pretty. Well, stunning, in fact.”

* * *

Shota watched passively as his high school friends opened a storage scroll marked barbeque which had opened into a large spread that spanned the length of his table. And one marked Sake. Nemuri’s eyes glittered in excitement.

“Damn, these are the good stuff. Like high quality, premium stuff. And they’re just giving it away?” She said as she showed him the label of Konoha brewery. She was right, that was expensive stuff. This night wasn’t going to end well for Nemuri and Hizashi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think? I hope that it was worth it, I had hoped to have this out sooner but I got sidetracked catching up on my sleep. Shoto was being naughty in his dreams. He's remembering the night Aiko was conceived even if he didn't know about her. Next up will be the USJ incident and maybe All Might's surgery (perhaps Kabuto's return). Not sure how long I'll make it. Anyway, I hope that despite the circumstances you were still at least able to enjoy your holidays, somehow. Think of this as my gift to you all if you liked it. Stay healthy and safe!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An abundance of Camellias or... the USJ arch with Tsubaki spamming the whole thing with her clones and the Villains are none the wiser that there are numerous versions of her running around. A few more people are let in on the Konoha secret. Aizawa and co receive some shocking and upsetting news. Class 1A's teamwork training pays off. And Tsukauchi and co realize that they've probably bitten off more than they can chew. Plus, Shigaraki and his sensei come to the wrong conclusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto or BNHA. Also, I suck at fight scenes so I've skipped over them for the most part otherwise this chapter wouldn't have been written. Be warned, there are some sad parts.

Shoto discovered that the twins, Tsubaki (really), were forces to be reckoned with. Through sheer force of will, she had made it so that the class found it practically impossible not to spend time with each other within the school campus. From forcing everyone into joint lunches (and how did she get that many seats without anyone trying to steal them?), to after school training/study sessions. Within the week and a half that they had all been classmates, they were already beginning to learn each other’s strengths and quirks.

Even Mineta was behaving himself around her, though that could perhaps be attributed to her punting him a few miles when he’d tried to grope her once. The boy had thankfully landed in the pool and she had refused to heal him fully. Of course, they had only had 2 training sessions so far and 1 group study, but these were all kept short due to various obligations, but it had gone a long way in helping the class settle into a sort of cohesive unit.

Now here they were, coming to the middle of the second week in U.A. and the class was interacting as though they had known each other for years. Something about Bakugo Tsubaki seemed to influence people into following her lead and into the path of unity. It tugged at his mind, but he’d been forced to push it away for lack of answers.

And so, he sat listening to Iida motion for the right of democratic voting for the positions of class representative. Nearly all the names were put forward but as Shoto noted, neither of the twins nor their childhood friend seemed enthused at being nominated, promptly rescinding, and dropping out of the race as soon as they were nominated to the surprise of their peers.

What he did notice was how quickly they had voted for Iida and Yaoyorozu, admittedly the most strait-laced people in their class. That seemed to settle things and their classmates quickly followed their lead. Everything came to such a quick and clean resolution that Aizawa sensei didn’t even get a chance to nap. He moved with his classmates as they automatically made their way to the food court with the twins at the lead. When did he become a follower? But he couldn’t deny that he didn’t feel any sort of resentment or bitterness at it.

Here he was having lunch and listening to the banter of his peers as his body settles into contentment at the good cheer all around. And then an alarm blares out and the upper years begin to stand and rush to the doors in a panic. Tsubaki motions them all to remain seated and despite the obvious panic that strikes the heart of their fellow students at the words of the upperclassman that she grabs, they remain in their chairs watching as the crush of people struggle to get to the doors, pushing and trampling on each other as though at least half of them weren’t heroes in training.

“The teachers are outside.” Tsubaki says, eyes closed. “There’s a crowd there, civilians. And our teachers are annoyed. I think they broke in.”

Their classmates immediately drop back, choosing not to question first. “Yaoyorozu, I need you to make a megaphone.” She says before glancing at the others. And we’ll need to be prepared for a triage. I think some of the others may have been injured in the mad scramble. Her friends from the other classes had all approached them and nodded. They had seen Class 1A sitting together as casually as possible and had seemed to gather what classmates they could to rally around the class.

From the other side of the table, he sees a cloud barrier engulf Yaoyorozu for a few moments before it dispersed to show her reworking her buttons with one hand and the other holding the megaphone. She tries to get the attention of the others but there were those further ahead that don’t seem to hear her even with the megaphone. That’s when Iida comes up with his own plans and gets the help of Uraraka who doesn’t even hesitate to help float him up. Despite only having trained together twice, the two of them work flawlessly and Iida takes off overhead using his engines to propel him forward, megaphone in hand to calmly redirect everyone back into the dining area.

Shoto sees the proud and triumphant gleam in Bakugo Tsubaki’s eyes at the show of teamwork and wonders if she didn’t turn this incident into a team exercise before he looks around and sees that yes, she has. As their classmates bring those few who had been lightly trampled on or had tripped and bumped into each other, or those that had felt the crush of the crowd and felt it hard to breathe, he realized that she has turned this into a show of camaraderie and unity that the teachers would be impressed by. Those that don’t know first aid (the majority of their classmates) stand back and gather the materials or provisions that their trained classmates request for. Yaoyorozu separated through a partition as she makes bandages and the like until either Tsubaki or Recovery Girl can come to have a look at them.

It’s to this scene that the teachers walk into when they come to calm the students. The dining room turned into a field triage as the students of Class 1A take charge. A class that by all rights has only met less than two weeks before is acting in sync with one another. It is unprecedented and unfounded, but all told, it gives the teachers of 1A a moment of pride. Even more so after viewing the tapes and discovering that the entire class had stayed calm and levelheaded throughout and had been the ones to rally their peers, even those more experienced than them.

* * *

Tsubaki sits with her head on her brother’s shoulder as she contemplates yesterday’s events. There was a moment when her senses had flared as the teachers stood at the steps of the entrance trying to get the reporters to leave. It was malevolent and when she had used the mind's eye again, she had seen the figure or rather, figures, in the hall by the teachers' lounge before it disappeared. Whoever it was had been there for just a moment, but it left her on edge. When she had tried to enquire about it, she had been reassured that a sweep had turned up nothing.

It still sets her on edge and puts both of her boys on alert. She has the sharpest instincts out of the three of them. That do or die mentally never leaving her, let alone the survival instincts ingrained in her through her village’s hatred and murder attempts when she was a child. And even the emotion and intention sensory abilities that she had developed because of Kurama was still there. As a result, she had developed a sort of preternatural ability to sense danger, and right now all of her senses were screaming at her to get the shit out of dodge which was why she had placed a hiraishin seal on her desk.

* * *

Izuku listened with some amusement as his classmates talked about who would be the most popular heroes. He laughed as Kacchan dislodged Tsubaki from his shoulder with an angry roar as they teased him for his temper. Her hand snapping out to grab his ear with a little twist until he was back on his seat, head tilting towards Tsuchan.

“Good pillows should be stationary.” She said.

“Hn.”

Ahh, it seems that the tension from Tsuchan was enough to bring out more of Sasuke Uchiha’s mannerisms than ever before.

He glanced at his classmates and noted the look of amazement as Kacchan suddenly turned stoic and calm, watching everything passively and not rising to any of their teasing. Tsuchan leaned into her brother again, eyes closed in what looked to be sleep. Izuku knew better. She was meditating, trying to get a feel for what was to come, and more specifically, to figure out who was behind this and perhaps even how many they were going to face. Tsubaki grimaced and shook her head subtly a few minutes later.

 _‘Wait and see. Protect the others but be cautious.’_ Her voice echoed into his mind.

He nodded slightly, eyes flicking through the bus before raising a brow when it landed on their homeroom teacher. She tilted her head in that direction, eyes following before she shook her head. Kacchan’s eyes met his, Sharingan spinning slightly to show how serious he was taking this threat before it disappeared with a blink. Izuku reached into his utility belt, fingering the shinobi weapons he had packed. Right. Use the shinobi tools and don’t rely too much on my quirk. Don’t draw attention to it.

* * *

Tsubaki’s instincts screamed a crescendo as Aizawa-sensei finished speaking. And her sensory abilities pinged something brewing as at least a hundred presences suddenly came into existence. “Sensei! Trouble!” She said as she pointed to the middle of the room. Just as she said that a dark misty cloud appeared, and numerous people appeared from beyond. She resisted the urge to gag as her sensitive nose caught a whiff of death, decay, and graveyard dirt that she had been familiar with from the fourth war but this time, it seemed worse.

 _‘Edo Tensei, or at least a corrupted variant of it. No chakra pathway so it’s not the same. Feels kinda similar though.’_ She warned the others. _‘At least two of them. Can’t tell from this far away.’_

She listened impassively as Kaminari confirmed they wouldn’t be able to call for help. Her eyes glanced around the training center and then to the door as Aizawa-sensei began to fight. A retreat would be for the best but would leave their teacher vulnerable. Still, she pushed the others along, motioning them as her hands slipped on their backs, hiraishin marks transferring onto them. And then the misty cloud villain, Kurogiri appeared and her brother acted impulsively, punching through the mist and suddenly they were getting pulled in.

Tsubaki’s fingers crossed and as her classmates were sucked in, so too were a number of clones who had grabbed one of their classmates. She channeled chakra to her feet as she held a few others to her.

* * *

Shoto landed on his feet, instantly freezing the area around him. He glanced to his left where Tsubaki was clutching onto him (to his secret relief), another hand holding onto something invisible which probably meant Hagakure was there with them. He watched as the blonde pulled an orange ribbon from her hair and held it out to their invisible classmate who took it wordlessly and tied it around her hand. He raised a brow at her ability to always tell where the girl was despite her invisible nature.

The three of them walked casually as the girls talked, unbothered by the villains charging towards them with Shoto freezing them as they came and Hagakure knocking out a few on her own. Tsubaki casually flicking her fingers at those that tried to get close to her, all of them sent flying through different structures.

“They’re all pretty weak. Aren’t they?” Hagakure asked casually.

Tsubaki glanced to her side with a smile. “They’re probably just the cannon fodder.”

“It’s as though they don’t know how to use their quirks. It’s embarrassing, grown men getting beaten by three children.” He said with an impassive look at the villains whose faces had turned to horror. “A few more minutes and your cells will begin to die, your body will go into shock. I want to be a hero, so I’d like to avoid that as much as possible. So, tell me what you’re all doing here.”

“We were told that All Might will be here, and we’ve come to kill him.” One of them stuttered out.

Kill the Symbol of Peace? Shoto needed to know. “How?”

“Shigaraki… he has someone called Nomu who he says has a quirk that can kill All Might.”

Tsubaki stepped up. “Which one was Nomu?”

“Large with pitch-black skin and a beak-like face.”

She nodded sharply before slapping one of her seals on the ground. “You can melt them now, Todoroki. That will prevent them from moving until I personally deactivate it.”

He nodded and touched his left palm to the ground to heat the place. True to her word, none of the villains could move. Their bodies remained in the same position that they had been in when he had frozen them.

“Did you get all of that.” Tsubaki’s voice said. He frowned and turned to the blonde only to see two identical copies standing there. They both nodded.

“I’m going to dispel to warn the Boss.” One of the copies said and then she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“And I’m going to go get the other teachers. You stay with them and get them back to Boss and the rest of the class.” The other copy said before she disappeared in a flash of yellow light.

The remaining girl glanced at them. “They’re clones of the original Tsubaki, just like I am. She made them when we were being sucked in.”

Which meant that the original was still in danger. Shoto mentally cursed as he followed the last clone out.

* * *

Ojiro was thankful he landed with Tsubaki-san. Between the two of them, they were able to defeat the villains in no time. They fell in a heap as she knocked the last of them down. Hands slamming down to stick a seal on the ground. “I marked you when I grabbed your hand, so the seal won’t affect you, but the others won’t be able to move until I deactivate this.” She explained before her eyes closed and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“It looks like everyone’s alright for now. The other clones like me are with them and they should all be on their way to regroup now. The only groups that don’t have a clone of me are I-kun and Kacchan’s groups.”

She was a what now?

* * *

Tokoyami glanced at the tangle of chains protruding from Tsubaki’s back that had held her share of defeated villains and then to the heap that he and Koda had created before raising a brow. “That’s all of them. Come here, you two.” She said as her hands reached out to them. “I’m gonna drop these morons and set up a paralysis seal but be on your guard.”

He watched in awe as the few that had tried to get up froze in place. “Shall we search for the others?”

“No need. I can sense them heading back to the entrance area. There are still villains there, but I think it’ll be for the best to have everyone there within sight.”

“Understood.” He paused. “And are you going to explain why there are two of you?”

* * *

Tsubaki grabbed Kaminari and twisted until he was flung back to Jirou and Yaoyorozu as another villain popped up from the ground. “You’re a lightning-based user, aren’t you?” She asked with a tilted head as she examined the man in front of her.

“Smart but I doubt that will help you.” He smirked at her.

She glanced at the girls and then nodded to the blanket. They understood and ducked back inside. “I’d be more worried about yourself.”

She punched the ground, upturning the earth as he prepared to attack before she used wood release to wrap around him, vines began to tangle around the other villains as well before she grabbed a stick and began to draw a paralysis seal on the ground.

“Why didn’t you just do that earlier?” Jirou added as she shoved the brain-addled boy away from her.

Tsubaki smiled at them. “I wanted to give you a chance to fight too. I couldn’t steal all of the fun.” She replied before motioning them to follow her. “Time to regroup with our classmates and the other clones of me.”

“Clones?” Yaoyorozu yelped. The clone in question just smiled.

* * *

Izuku glanced at his two classmates, mind immediately coming up with a plan as he thought back to all that he knew of his classmates’ quirks. “Aren’t you glad we did those afterschool training sessions?” He asked as motioned them close to huddle, sending a warning glance at Mineta.

“I can create a whirlpool with my punch. When that happens, I’ll need you to grab Mineta and I and propel us forward.” He said turning to Asui. “Mineta, throw as much of those balls into the water as you can while Asui has us over them. And then we’ll swim to the shore and rendezvous with the rest of our classmates.”

“You want to go back to the main plaza?” Mineta asked in fear.

He nodded. “Tsuchan’s clones should be leading the others there soon and Kacchan wouldn’t be far behind. They’ll want to get to the group as quickly as possible.”

“Alright. I understand.” Asui said as she braced herself.

The purple midget waved his hand up. “What’s this about Bakugo-chan’s clones and can she…” Asui slapped him before he could say another word, which was just as well because Izuku was a few seconds away from throttling the boy. He had agreed with Asui’s earlier question about why exactly had the boy enrolled in the hero course if he was too afraid to fight. Somehow, he felt the answers lay in how much of a pervert the boy was, more to the point, he viewed the hero’s life through rose tinted lenses wherein he could perv and bed as many women as he wanted if he became a famous hero. If that was the case then it would probably best to dissuade the boy soon before he got himself or others killed, or his reputation tarnished for his licentious behavior and perhaps even a criminal case or two.

Regardless, he got into position and activated his quirk before jumping. Channeling one for all into his arm, he pulled back and released allowing the shockwave to push the water away before drawing it in. Asui grabbed him with her tongue, propelling them forward and away as he heard Mineta’s cries and the whizzing of the balls over the cries of the villains. All in all, the plan seemed to be a success.

* * *

Katsuki wished he could kill these villains; it was probably one of the few things he missed about the old days. That and his Kusanagi. He scowled as he rubbed his eyes. The Sharingan felt weird and kept distracting him from his fight. A chameleon villain ran towards him in a futile attempt to stab him but his Sharingan had already predicted the movement, so he sidestepped him before knocking him out with a single blow to the back of the head.

He wasn’t a sensor like his sister, but he could feel no other chakra awake apart from Shitty Hair… er Kirishima. He turned to his classmate who opened his mouth, the teasing smile dying immediately as his eyes widened. “Uhh… Bakubro… there’s something wrong with your eyes.”

“Don’t mind the tomoe.”

“What tomoe? They’re pinwheels!” Katsuki’s eyes widened before he cursed. It seemed just the mere mention of Edo Tensei had been enough of a horror to trigger his mangekyo which explained why some of his nastier memories had been harder to push aside than usual.

 _‘Forgive me Sasuke.’_ Itachi’s voice echoed in his ear.

 _‘Uncle Sasuke!!!’_ Shikadai, bloody and frail, his godson, one of his greatest failures.

 _‘My baby. Sasuke… she… she…’_ Naruto, his sister, crying in his arms right after the miscarriage and struggling to breathe through her sobs and tears, the small body carefully bundled lying motionless on her lap. His family. The massacre. Fighting against his father and Shisui’s Edo Tensei. Sakura’s death. All of it rushed back into him. He stumbled for a moment before he forced his Sharingan to deactivate. Waving off Kirishima’s attempt at steadying him.

“Let’s regroup with the others at the entrance. They might need our help.” And he needed to alert his sister to the fact that they needed to find an option to replace his Sharingan soon elsewise, he’ll have to kiss his hero dreams goodbye.

* * *

A yellow flash engulfed the classroom as Tsubaki appeared on her desk. She quickly leaped from the desk and out the door to the nearest classroom. She flung the door open to the surprise of everyone. Vlad King turned to her with disapproval in his eyes. She caught sight of Shinso and Itsuka staring at her wide-eyed.

“You’re from Class 1A. You should be at USJ.” Vlad King said with disapproval.

Tsubaki turned her attention back to him. “I am there. I’m just a clone. I used one of my experimental teleportation seals to get here. I had previously tagged my desk. There’s a villain attack and we were scattered. As far as I can tell, each of the groups has at least 1 clone with them which is good because the original me can keep tabs using the others…” She began as her year mates turned to her in shock.

Vlad King sat up straighter, alarm in his face. “One of them has a portal quirk and another that has the ability to scramble frequencies so we can’t contact anyone outside. We’re also outnumbered. They brought at least a hundred lackeys with them, which isn’t much of a problem from what I’ve observed from my group, at least. But there are three that we can’t account for.”

“I understand. Gather as much of the teachers as you can, and I’ll organize my students.” Tsubaki nodded as she took off, understanding that the man couldn’t just take off and leave his students there. Not when it was still possible that there were other villains on their way to the main campus. She threw her senses out and found All Might with Principal Nedzu inside the teachers’ lounge a floor above, so she channeled her chakra into her feet to increase her speed. She was there within seconds.

Throwing the door open she glanced at the two who had jumped to their feet at the sight of her. “No time to talk. Short version, I’m a clone of the original, I used an experimental teleportation technique, and there’s a villain attack at the USJ consisting of at least a hundred villains one of whom has a quirk that can create portals and another that can scramble frequencies.”

The Principal exchanged a sharp glance with All Might before he took off. She turned her attention to Principal Nedzu who brought out a small box and flipped it open. He pressed one button and an alarm sounded. Another button and the intercoms turned on. “There’s been an attack. All students gather in your designated safe zones. All Staff designated for assault meet up at the entrance ASAP. The rest of you, protect the students.” He said, voice stern and so unlike the soft and gentle voice he always used.

The doors flicked open and a sea of students rushed out in organized chaos. Nedzu grits his teeth as he tried to work out how he was to get past them. “If you’ll allow me to carry you, I can get us down in moments.” She said.

Nedzu blinked at her before nodding. She picked up her Principal, opened the window, and began to run down the side of the building. “Minor tree walking exercises when my brother and I were children to get our quirks under control.” She explained.

“Couldn’t you have just used your teleportation technique?”

Tsubaki shook her head. “I’ve not figured out how to safely bring others without accidentally leaving behind a body part. Too risky.”

The Principal grimaced before rushing to the entrance. “If it’s alright with you. I’m going to disperse myself now so that my memories can reintegrate with the original.”

“That might be helpful.”

She gave him a smile as they reached the entrance where the teachers were beginning to gather. “I’ll see you all in a few minutes.”

* * *

The real Tsubaki smirked as her clone dispelled. Her classmates had just started to formulate a plan on how to alert the teachers when she received the memories. “There’s no need for that.” She said as she strode forward.

“Thirteen-sensei. I’ve already sent out a message. The teachers have already been alerted and Principal Nedzu has begun the evacuation of the other students, those slated for offense have begun to gather.”

Kurogiri snarled. “You’re lying!”

“Am I? Do you wanna take that bet? Because the teachers should be here in a few minutes. And the rest of my classmates should be regrouping in about 5 seconds.” She held up her fingers counting down and as soon as her fingers hit zero, the rest of her classmates showed up, led by one of her clones who dispersed upon seeing her. She allowed herself a moment to sort through the memories before nodding at them. Thankfully, the villain hadn’t seemed to notice the clones because his focus was on her.

Katsuki smirked at them. “You need to get yourself better lackeys. They didn’t even last five minutes with us.”

Tsubaki sniffed the air again and realized that the man before her was one of the Edo Tensei that she had been smelling from the beginning. The villain created a small portal to get himself away while she created two more clones.

Glancing at her twin who nodded, she shifted her stance a bit as she turned to the stares where Aizawa-sensei was being held down by the Nomu. Handsy the villain seemed to have a decay quirk if what she was hearing was right (it likely was). “Thirteen-sensei. I’m going to help Aizawa-sensei. Please protect the others and keep them together.”

She didn’t wait for a response as she ran at full speed, Katsuki just a little behind her. She idly wondered how that had looked to the others.

* * *

“The heroes are coming. One of them had a quirk that was able to get a message to the teachers.” Kurogiri told him. Shigaraki snarled and pulled away from Eraserhead.

Right on time too because one of the students, a blonde girl appeared in a flash, her leg slammed into Nomu and sent him flying from the impact. A boy, her twin, if he was reading their features right, had managed to grab onto Kurogiri’s body, knocking him into the ground. His keeper tried to escape through a portal only ice consumed him and froze him in place. The blonde boy raised on hand, a smirk on his face as he demonstrated his explosive quirk.

The source of the ice, a boy with white and red hair stepped up just as a green-haired boy emerged from the beach with two of his peers. “Run back to the entrance and meet up with the rest. Don’t stop for anything.” The green-haired boy ordered without glancing at them.

Some of his party players had begun to awaken by that point and he saw the hesitation in the two students. He smiled. “Maybe we can at least kill one of the students before we have to end this game.”

He saw the blonde girl and the green-haired boy drop into similar stances. “I-kun. Take care of the lackeys. I’ve got a wannabe brat to deal with.”

Wannabe brat? Oh, that bitch was going down. Shigaraki surged forward but the girl moved so fast it was almost like she had teleported. He barely dodged her attack, but his shirt was still torn from the wind generated by her punch. The punch that landed on the ground and upturned the earth, shaking it and leaving a crater behind. Super speed and strength? Just like… just like All Might.

“Nice dodge.” The girl smirked. From the background, he could see that his subordinates were going down almost as soon as they stood up. The two boys were incredible and Kurogiri was still trapped by the blonde boy with an explosive quirk.

Maybe he should have listened to Kurogiri when he had told him that they needed to leave immediately. His saving grace was Nomu’s return. His servant attacked the blonde boy which had him jumping out of reach and this allowed the Nomu to break the ice and free Kurogiri.

“Get Her!” He ordered the Nomu while he kept trying to avoid her punch. A part of him felt like she was playing with him.

The girl side-eyed the Nomu but didn’t make a move to dodge his arm as it pierced through her. It was silent as her the half and half boy and their teacher stared at her in horror. Her twin and the green-haired boy stared at them impassively.

“Gotcha!” The girl said before she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The blonde boy whistled, a smirk on his lips before he pointed to the ceiling. He tilted his head to the glass enclosure, as did everyone else and his heart stopped. The girl was standing upside down on the ceiling, without support. Her blonde hair hanging long, she gave a wave before golden chains erupted from her back. What?

It wrapped around Nomu who tried to break free to no avail. That’s not possible. Nomu shouldn’t be restrained by things like these. The girl jumped or began to freefall before landing lightly on her feet, Nomu was lifted from the ground and slammed hard, she glanced at the others who immediately stepped away as she used Nomu to sweep the other villains away. Throwing a piece of paper to her twin who nodded sharply.

Kurogiri stepped forward to use his quirk to free Nomu but the moment he touched the chains, a physical hand appeared. There was a moment of stupefaction before he stepped back from the still girl. Just what the hell were those chains and what the fuck was she?

“Adamantine chains of sealing. Gotta love them.” She said cheerfully as she stepped closer. “They’re unbreakable, create barriers, absorb, deflect, and analyze attacks. They also cancel the quirks of anyone it touches, as well as absorbing their energies. Also, you know… they’re chains with very pointy ends.”

It was at that point that Kurogiri had pulled him back, just as she put her hands together and blew out a fucking fireball, he fell back through the portal, the heat of the fireball so intense that he could swear that it had singed his brows and he heard All Might’s booming voice declare “I AM HERE!” just as the portal closed.

They had only known each other for less than two weeks. They had only been training for two weeks! They shouldn’t have been able to cut through all of his subordinates so easily. What the fuck were those freaks?

* * *

Toshinori ran as fast as he could, dread and terror at what the students must be coming up against, especially since they only had Aizawa as the only trained combatant, Thirteen would be good for pure defense. At least Midoriya and the Twins were there. He didn’t know what he was expecting but as he burst in, uttering his signature line, he was met with dead silence as the students glanced at him before turning back to the scene below where two villains had just escaped through a portal.

“All Might-sensei, are the police going to be here soon? I hope they have enough handcuffs!” Bakugo-chan said as though she hadn’t just sent a giant fireball into a portal after fleeing villains let alone having one villain that could rival him in size wrapped up in chains that were protruding from her back.

“Is anyone, apart from Aizawa, hurt?” He asked as he scanned the students, all of whom had begun to gather around. He did a headcount and sighed in relief. Apart from a few tattered clothing, there wasn’t so much as a scratch on any of the students. Aizawa was in a bad way though.

He received negatives from the class before he glanced at the villains on the ground. “They’re under a sleeping paralysis seal.” Bakugo-kun said.

Toshinori nodded and watched as Bakugo-chan approached Aizawa with her glowing green hands. The sounds of rushing feet had him looking up to see that his fellow teachers had arrived.

* * *

 _‘Get grandfather to take custody of Nomu when the police get here.’_ Tsubaki said through her mind to her boys.

 _‘Why?’_ I-kun asked, not fully understanding.

 _‘Okay.’_ Kacchan said without question.

Tsubaki ended her train of thought as she focused on healing Aizawa-sensei. Her focus going to his broken bones first and then to his open wounds before finally going to his elbow that had suffered from Shigaraki’s quirk. Surprisingly, he wasn’t as injured as he appeared but as a precaution, she had placed her palm on his forehead and allowed her chakra to do a thorough sweep to ensure that there weren’t any internal injuries. By the time she pulled away, she was slightly sweaty, and the police had already arrived.

“Bakugo-san, we need your help removing the paralysis seals on the villains.” One of the officers said, though going by how he was dressed, he was probably a Detective.

Just how long was she distracted? She stood up and nodded. “Are your men ready with the cuffs?”

“They are.” He said politely. She put her fingers together and made a few clones who nodded at her before running to each zone.

“Thank you. Now about that villain still trapped in your chains…” His phone rang. “Oh, excuse me.”

Tsubaki didn’t say anything as her enhanced hearing allowed her to listen in to the conversation between the Detective and his superior. It seems like her grandfather had come through for her and gotten custody of Nomu. That would make explaining things so much easier. Now she just needed to get Orochimaru and the White Snake together to talk to them.

The Detective returned a few minutes later, looking a bit frustrated but was still unfailingly polite as he had his men cuff the Nomu so that she could let her chains dissipate. He then led her to her classmates out in the courtyard.

“We’ll be taking you back to the main campus where we’ll get your statements before we send you home with your guardians.”

Tsubaki caught sight of Uraraka’s tight smile and remembered that her parents lived in Kyoto and probably wouldn’t arrive until late into the night or tomorrow morning, so she made a split-second decision as she approached the girl.

“Why don’t you call your parents and tell them you’re staying with us?”

Uraraka stiffened as she turned to her. “W…what?”

“Stay with us, at least tonight. I don’t want you going back home when we don’t know how that Portal guy works.”

“B…but… are you?”

“It’ll be fine. We have an unused guest room. And I can lend you some of my clothes, or we can swing by your place and get some of your clothes. That way your parents don’t have to worry about you nor would they have to rush over here.”

Her classmate’s lips were quivering as she nodded and immediately called her father.

“Are you sure about this?” Kacchan asked as he stepped up to her left, I-kun falling in step at her right. She tilted her head consideringly before she nodded. They would give Uraraka a choice between signing an NDA so that she could attend the meeting later or pass on it completely so that she wouldn’t find out the full truth of the Nara Estate.

As members of the Nara family, they were allowed to bring in anyone they found trustworthy into their secrets, and for the first time in centuries, they were telling more and more people as the months passed. Tonight would be no different.

She had Uraraka sit with her through the ride back to the main campus and then ensured that Izuku would be with her when she and Kacchan had been called one after another for their statements. When Izuku was done with his own statement and while Uraraka had been delivering hers, they approached Principal Nedzu who was coincidentally enough, with Aizawa-sensei and Midnight-sensei. “Uraraka’s parents are in Kyoto so I’ve asked her to spend the night with us.” She informed them.

“How kind of you. Then, assuming her parents agree, she will be going home with the… three of you?” Principal Nedzu asked, a bit unsure.

I-kun nodded. “It’ll most likely be their grandparents. Our parents are all at work.”

“Most likely Grandmother.” Kacchan added. “Gramps has a meeting today.”

“Very well. I’ll tell the staff and the police about this temporary change in guardianship.”

Tsubaki stopped her Principal before he could leave. “Actually, I would like to ask you and our teachers, as well as the Detective to come to our grandparents' home later.”

“Why would we do that?” the Principal asked.

“There were somethings I held back when delivering my statement, I didn’t know if they had some listening devices or not and it would be easier to explain in an environment that I know isn’t compromised.”

There were grimaces all around but even they understood why she had done it; it didn’t mean that she couldn’t be held for obstruction of justice. “That’s a dangerous thing to do, Bakugo-chan.”

“I know. But things will make more sense when you come over.” Her voice was serious and grave as she turned to address the Detective who had heard what she had said and was looking at her with some disapproval.

“Very well, as long as you explain everything later.” Detective Tsukauchi said.

Tsubaki turned around as soon as she felt her grandmother’s presence. She was being escorted by All Might. “Hello, Grandmother!” She said as soon as the woman was within reach.

The woman chuckled and patted her cheek before scrutinizing them from head to toe. “None of you appear to be injured. Good. That should at least keep your fretful parents in line.”

“Mrs. Bakugo, I offer you my deepest apologies that your grandchildren had been placed in such a horrible situation.” Principal Nedzu bowed deep and low to her grandmother.

“There’s no need for that. I know these children well enough to know that those thugs wouldn’t have even been able to land a hit on them. The way they trained was always Plus Ultra.” She said with a teasing lilt to her voice at the last two words. “And it’s not Bakugo. I’m their maternal grandmother. My name is Nara Haru.”

“Nara… I’ve heard that name before.” Midnight-sensei said thoughtfully.

The woman laughed before giving them the address to their home. “Now, I do believe I was meant to be picking up four children not three.”

“Uraraka-chan’s just finishing up her statement, Grams.”

* * *

Ochako stared wide-eyed at the limo that she was expected to get into. So, the Bakugo twins and maybe even Deku were rich. Slightly behind that, she saw another limo waiting for… Yaoyorozu? So that was four… no wait. She mentally counted in her head. The Bakugo twins, Deku, Iida, Yaoyorozu, and since the latter apparently ran in the same circles as Todoroki, she should probably count him in too. So that was six rich people in the class. Practically a third. She wondered who would rank as the richest among them. Maybe Yaoyorozu, she was the only one who sometimes slipped in conversation.

“Do you want to swing by your apartment, Dear?” Mrs. Nara asked kindly.

Her apartment that would probably be a derelict shack in comparison? She was tempted to say no but she needed more clothes since school was going to be cancelled for the next two days while they did a complete overhaul of the security systems and then it would head straight into the weekend which was when her parents would get there.

“Or you could borrow some of mine and push it off until tomorrow so that you can rest.” Baku… Tsubaki-chan offered.

She quietly nodded. They turned off to a richer street that was surrounded by high walls and trees, a richer neighborhood perhaps, the type that she would have only dreamed of walking by before the Nara name sunk in as they pulled to a stop in front of an intricate gate with a circular symbol in the middle. They couldn’t be? Could they? There was no way that they were THE NARA.

But apparently, they were. Because they had stopped at the courtyard of the Nara Estate and they had gotten out there. Servants milling about in traditional wear. Well, at least she knew who held the title of the richest in the class. She felt her hands shake as she walked deeper into the mansion, following after Tsubaki-chan as the boys split off into another corridor that was adjacent to them.

“This is the family wing. But since it’s been a traumatic day, I took the liberty of having the room next to mine prepared for you.” Her classmate said cheerfully, opening it up to a large traditional room. There was a futon spread out and looking so inviting to her.

She turned back to Tsubaki-chan who was looking at her eagerly. “It’s a nice room.” She said a bit awkwardly.

“I’m glad you like it.” She said closing the door behind her. “Now we have to talk.”

Huh? The atmosphere completely changed. “About what?”

“You have a choice to make. Our teachers are going to be here tonight and we’re going to have them sign the same forms that All Might and Recovery Girl signed when they took us on as apprentices.”

“What forms?”

“It’s a non-disclosure agreement. Nothing illegal… just some Nara Clan secrets. If you sign it then you’ll be free to wander around the estate within reason. Some places are expressly prohibited. If you don’t sign it then we can’t allow you to attend the meeting and you won’t be allowed to wander beyond this building and the courtyard.”

What secrets were the Nara keeping? But if All Might and Recovery Girl had no problems signing it, then she shouldn’t either. Right? “I’ll sign it.”

“Great. Here.” Where the hell did she get that? She took it and read through it as fast as she could. Her parents had always impressed upon her the seriousness of reading through the contract as thoroughly as she could, especially the fine print. She saw nothing out of the ordinary and signed at the appropriate places.

Her friend beamed at her as soon as she handed it back. “Are you tired? No? Great! We can head down to the village for a walk and I’ll give you a quick tour of the grounds.”

Huh? Village?

* * *

Well… Ochako could say that she didn’t see this coming. She now understood why the Nara was so secretive and why she had been asked to sign the NDA. The village that had been under the Nara family’s watch for centuries was peaceful and they were trying to keep it as such. The Nara family had been what was left of the original founding clans of Uchiha and their rival clan Senju (and the Senju’s sister clan the Uzumaki). As the bloodlines intermarried and were whittled away as they died out, only the Nara had been able to continue and keep its hence the estate’s lands bearing their name.

Everyone they met had stopped and greeted Tsubaki-chan and she had called all of them by name, inquiring about their family or their activities. It really had that small village countryside feeling and she found herself more at ease in this setting than inside the main house. She idly wondered how much rent here would cost and if the Naras would allow her to move here while she attended U.A., after all, it wasn’t that far from school and she could probably work it so that she could ride with her classmates. Maybe get a part-time job for some extra money? And perhaps even train with them. She forced herself to slow down because she was getting ahead of herself.

Her stomach grumbled reminding her that she hadn’t eaten yet and it was nearing two. Tsubaki stopped walking and blushed. “I forgot the time. Come on. What do you feel like eating?” She asked.

“Uhh. I don’t have enough money in my…”

“Nah. Don’t worry about it. My treat. Just tell me what looks good for you.”

“Uhh… the barbeque.”

Tsubaki nodded and dragged her in. She was then treated to what was one of the most delicious barbeque meals she had ever had. And was subjected to her friend’s large appetite.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

* * *

Or maybe it was. Ochako fidgeted uncomfortably as her friend took her to one of the store to buy her some clothes. She felt the fabric of the kimono that Tsubaki had shoved into her arms and some streetwear and pajamas. The quality was enough to tell her that it would probably be worth more than four months of her entire budget but her friend didn’t seem to mind.

“Look. You’re my guest and since we’ll be seeing our teachers tonight, I don’t think you want to see them wearing ill-fitting clothes. Besides, you’re my friend Uraraka-chan. I want to give you something nice too.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“You won’t need to.”

“I insist.” She persisted.

Tsubaki-chan pouted. “You can pay me back by helping me plan for Kacchan’s birthday.”

“Wouldn’t it be your birthday too?”

“Well, yes. But I always have a panic attack when it comes to his birthday gift.”

“Okay. But I’ll only take the pajamas, underwear, and one set of clothing. Not the rest.” Tsubaki-chan deflated further and she was proud of herself for having stood her ground. In the end, they didn’t pay as much as she expected. Probably because inflation wasn’t such a big deal here.

* * *

“That’s where I’ve heard of the Nara name before.” Nemuri cried as they all stared at the imposing gates of the Nara Estate.

Hizashi nodded. “And they own the Konoha brewery. Which was why they were okay giving away that expensive sake. It was well within the rules because they didn’t buy it.”

Shota sighed. This day just won’t end.

* * *

He glanced at the signed NDA forms and then to his students and the adults in their lives. Uraraka seemed a bit stiff but that would probably be a given if she didn’t know that her classmates were wealthy. He was at least assured that she would be safe here, given the tight security the Nara family kept on their grounds.

All Might and Recovery Girl seemed at ease here though, not surprising after the warm greeting they were given by the staff and by Lord and Lady Nara. The curtesy titles were still given to them despite the abolition of the nobility centuries ago. He threw quick glances at Principal Nedzu, Nemuri, Hizashi, and Detective Tsukauchi.

“We’re here. What did you need to tell us?”

Bakugo-chan took a deep breath before looking up. “I’m a sensor. I was able to sense them just as the portal had begun to build and when they stepped out… I smelled something foul.”

“In what way?”

“There were two members that smelled of death, decay, and graveyard dirt…”

Nemuri tilted her head. “I don’t get it.”

“Ever heard of Frankenstein’s monster?”

Hizashi gasped as All Might’s head whipped to face them in horror.

“Those two… at least one of them was a patchwork of different people. It was all jumbled up but the base scents were there. That was why I had grandfather wrest control of the Nomu’s custody from the police.”

Tsukauchi’s eyes widened. “ **You** have the power to do things like that?”

And yes. That was a terrifying thought. Uraraka was looking just as shocked as the rest of them.

“Within reason. The Nara have held power for centuries and we’ve stood guard over Japan for almost a millenia, even before this country was known as Japan.” Lord Nara said. What? Bakugo Mitsuki slid the shoji door beside her open to show a village in the distance. “We’ve been responsible for this village since Nanadiame-sama, our ancestor and the last of the Uzumaki-Senju clan had taken the position as the head. Her son married the last Uchiha whose clan had helped the Senju found this village. This was and still is a village of the shinobi. Everyone here is trained in the art even if the only ones who are active are the ones who are part of our security company. For the most part, we only assign simple D-rank missions which are basically chores.”

“You’re telling me that Japan still has shinobi and that you have a village of reservist shinobi which at any moment can turn into your private army?” Principal Nedzu tried to clarify. His voice getting a bit squeaky.

“That’s one way of putting it. But really. We won’t act unless the Emperor calls on us to defend the country in war.”

Shota took a sip of his tea. “What does this have to do with why you needed to get the Nomu?”

A man to the back with long dark hair, old eyes, and serpentine features spoke up next. “We needed to see what the process was for how it was created and perhaps to get a full workup of its DNA.”

“We may also be able to deconstruct the process. It seems to be a different process from anything I’ve ever seen.” This one was a person who _seemed_ to be in his teens but had eyes just as old… no, ancient as the previous speaker, had white skin and hair and lines running through his skin spoke.

Shota frowned. “You’ve seen something like this?”

“Oh, a long time ago. But no. This process is very different.”

“Where could you have possibly…”

The boy turned to Principal Nedzu. “Orochimaru-sensei and I are a lot older than we look.”

Lord Nara coughed. “Your pardon. Perhaps I should have explained these things first but… Orochimaru-san is the dark-haired man, he’s our head doctor and scientist; Kabuto, the man beside him, now runs our multiple orphanages but he was once Orochimaru’s student. And while they both are from this village… they’re only a few decades younger than the village itself.”

Pandemonium broke out at that. Immortality? He shuddered at the thought. When everything was calmer, Lord Nara continued his explanation which seemed more like a fantasy fairytale or a shonen manga. He wanted to scoff but there was something in the look that All Might and Recovery Girl’s faces that told him that it was the truth. Of course, the demonstration had gone a long way.

Principal Nedzu leaned in with a hungry gleam in his eyes at the thought of the lost history. At least Shota now had an explanation for the irregularities in his three top students. And he also understood the need for the NDA.

“Is there anything else you want to throw in there?” He asked sarcastically.

Bakugo-chan nodded. “One of the things I can do with my chains is read the minds of those it comes in contact with, which makes things easier because mind-reading without the chains is harder. Nomu… he’s well… he’s a composite creature without any thoughts of his own. He exists solely for Shigaraki’s commands but Kurogiri… he’s… well, he’s one of those that were brought back but he wasn’t a composite creature. He was just one corpse and he still remembered his name and some recognition of the people he knew but given how short his interaction with my chains was… I wasn’t able to get a read on how much of him still remained.”

That was a stunner. The implications of her confession about being able to read minds without the chains and… Kurogiri was a tough bastard and completely independent, unlike Nomu.

“You were able to get Kurogiri’s true name.” Principal Nedzu said calmly.

Bakugo-chan nodded, throwing him a hesitant look which told him he wasn’t going to like where this was going. “He recognized Aizawa-sensei.”

He was right, he didn’t like it. Was it one of his fallen comrades? Someone he failed to save? Or perhaps a villain he had once encountered?

“His true name or at least the name he held in life was Shirakumo Oboro.” The glass in his hand shattered.

* * *

“That… that’s not…” Aizawa-sensei spluttered out in denial before his face blanked.

Midnight-sensei and Present Mic-sensei were both pale as they shifted closer to her homeroom teacher. Principal Nedzu’s face was grave. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. My chains read only the truth.” She told them apologetically. She didn’t know how her teachers knew Shirakumo but they seemed to have been close to garner such a reaction.

“Shirakumo Oboro was a U.A. student who died in his second year during his internship. He was responding to a villain attack with your three teachers.” Principal Nedzu explained.

Mic-sensei’s fist was clenched. “He was our best friend. We were all always hanging out. Even though Midnight was a year ahead of us.”

Aizawa-sensei’s face was dark, and she bowed her head in apology at being forced to tell him such devastating news.

“While I do believe what you’re saying, I’ll still have Shirakumo-san’s grave exhumed just to ensure that we’ve dealt with all the formalities.” Detective Tsukauchi said seriously before he glanced at Orochimaru and Kabuto. “And if it is at all possible, the DNA profiles from the Nomu.”

Orochimaru tilted his head in acknowledgment. “Last thing. Yesterday I felt a presence that appeared and disappeared in a flash while the teachers were dealing with the break-in… it was Kurogiri. It was his presence that I felt. I thought I was just imagining it, but I clearly wasn’t. It disappeared faster than I could activate my mind’s eye to sense him clearly.”

“I understand why you wouldn’t have reported it but, in the future, I would appreciate it if you went directly to a teacher anytime you sensed someone that wasn’t supposed to be there or anything you think might be off.” Principal Nedzu told her sternly. “I trust that you’ll be able to sense and identify Kurogiri and Shigaraki immediately?”

“Yes. I’ve gotten enough of a feel for their presence to correctly identify them.”

“If that’s all, I’ll ask that we end this meeting here and allow ourselves some time to process all that we’ve learned. Perhaps even schedule another meeting where we can discuss things with a clearer head.” Principal Nedzu offered as he looked to her grandfather who agreed.

* * *

“Sensei!” Shigaraki said as soon as he was finally able to get in contact with his mentor. “All Might didn’t show up until the very end but there was a girl there who seemed to be just as fast and just as strong as All Might.”

“A girl…” His Sensei said with curiosity. “How interesting. Perhaps we should pay close attention to her during the sports festival.”

* * *

Nemuri watched on with worry as Shota destroyed his apartment in a rage so unlike him, Hizashi was trying his best to calm down their friend. Nemuri grit her teeth to hold back the bile that was rising in her at the thought of what had been done to Shirakumo’s body.

“Shota! Stop it!” Hizashi pleaded to try to stop their friend by grabbing his arms and pulling him into a tight hold. “I know you're devastated by what we learned but this isn’t going to help.”

“Let me go, Hizashi.” Shota growled out as he struggled.

“No.”

“He was our friend and they just…”

“I know.”

“They used his… I can’t even…” Shota sounded so heartbroken that it hurt Nemuri just as much as the news they had been given.

Nemuri walked towards the two slowly. “Let’s wait until Tsukauchi confirms it.”

“Then what?”

“If it’s true, then let’s take out those bastards and recover his body. Give him a proper burial.”

That seemed to calm Shota. Having that one mission in mind. Her friend nodded.

* * *

All Might remained seated with Recovery Girl, even as Uraraka excused herself to go to bed. When Tsubaki nodded at them as a sign that the girl was safely out of hearing range, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’re ready for the surgery. We can do it tonight or tomorrow morning if you prefer. And assuming you don’t overexert yourself over the next few days. You should be fully healed by this time next week.” Orochimaru told him. “I’ve even brought in Kabuto to help with the surgery.”

“We’ll do it tomorrow. I assume Bakugo-chan will also be assisting and I would prefer she get her rest after such an exciting day.”

“Then be back by five in the morning. This will be an intensive surgery. Shuzenji-san, you’re welcome to come observe.” Orochimaru offered.

Recovery Girl smiled. “I’d be honored.”

* * *

“You being here is fortuitous, Kabuto. I would’ve sent for you otherwise.” Tsubaki said once all of the guests were gone.

Auntie Inko had gone off to bed as well. The secondhand excitement of the day had finally gotten to her and she was groggy by the time the last of the U.A. staff had left.

“How can I help, Tsubaki-sama?”

Tsubaki sighed. “I know you love what you do for the orphanages but I’m going to ask you to become active again and go undercover. We need eyes and ears inside whatever organization Shigaraki and Kurogiri are part off.”

“I understand.” And of course, he would. He had seen the signs as well as she, Sasuke, and Orochimaru had. It was like Root or Akatsuki again. The human experimentations and reanimated corpses, perhaps even spies, and the fact that they had disposable foot soldiers… if they weren’t careful it could fan the flames and turn into a full-blown war within Japan’s own soil. That would mean casualties and an influx of orphans, and Konoha would probably be dragged into it as well, the vows sworn to the Emperor would ensure that.

* * *

Ochako tossed and turned as she came to grips with everything she had learned today. Specifically, how out of her league she was. These weren’t the run of the mill villains that she had been expecting to encounter and had in fact seen today. No, Kurogiri and Shigaraki were part of a larger plot, and given the fact that Shigaraki had two reanimated corpses, it probably meant that they would be encountering more. _‘I need to get stronger.’_ Was what she thought and then… _‘I will get stronger.’_

She stood up and despite how late into the night it was, she could see that the lights in Tsubaki’s room were still turned on. She knocked.

“What’s up, Uraraka?” Her friend asked as soon as she opened the door.

Ochako got down onto her knees and bowed. “Today showed me that there are bigger monsters out there than the ones I thought I would be fighting. I want to get stronger to defeat them and to protect those that can’t protect themselves. So please, train me.”

She felt her friend gently tilting her head up so that they were looking eye to eye. “Get up Uraraka. I’ll train you but I won’t go easy.”

“You will?”

“Yes. I-kun and Kacchan will help but you’ll be joining Shinso, Itsuka, and Mei.”

Ochako beamed and threw her arms around the girl. “Thank you!”

* * *

_Naruto watched as Gaara fell to the floor completely motionless, heard the taunts of the Akatsuki members. Nonononono! This couldn’t be happening! “Wake up, Gaara! Wake up! You’re finally Kazekage, you have people who respect you and who need you to lead them.” She cried and shook him, her heart felt like it was being crushed by a vice-like grip, and then she saw a miracle as the old lady she’d screamed at and chided had pushed her away and traded her life for his._

_And then… the Otsutsuki came and she found him dying on the battlefield. Her chakra too low to heal him so she snapped at the closest person to get Kankuro, he needed to be here for this. “Naru?” He gasped, blood leaking from his mouth and from his wounds. “So glad… got to see you, one last time. Love… so much.”_

_“I love you too.” She cried as she cradled his head._

_“Take care… my people…br…brother…and Shinki.” He begged. She nodded, what else could she do. She had no way of saving him so protecting those that he cherished was the only thing she could do._

_“Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “One last for the road.” He said. She smiled tremulously before she leaned in to kiss him. It tasted of blood and ash but underneath it all, it tasted like him. Like all the kisses they shared before they parted after the fourth war._

_Shikamaru was there, not too far but he had given her a look of understanding and had nodded at her before turning away. He had never gotten this moment with Temari and he wouldn’t begrudge her this, not when he often wished he had been given the chance to say goodbye._

_“Happy… thank you.” He said just as Kankuro arrived. Dropping to his knees beside them. There was devastation writ on Kankuro’s face as he gazed at Gaara._

_“Lead… our… people… well..” Gaara’s breathing grew harsher as he grasped his brother’s hand. Kankuro looked fearful but he nodded with determination. “Good.”_

_He grabbed both of their hands and gave them a smile, peaceful, and content. “Love you both…and Shinki… thank you… for…standing…by my side.” He choked out. “F-for being… my friend…a-and l-loving me.” He said before his hands went limp._

_There were sobs coming from all around as Naruto clasped him tighter to her. Sensing the approach of the other Kage, she forced herself to step away and stand. Shikamaru helping her as her legs shook. She turned to Kankuro, last of the sand siblings, and motioned his former teacher, Baki, forward to make her next pronouncement more official._

_“The Kazekage is Dead. Long Live the Kazekage. Subaku no Kankuro.” She said, voice like steel despite the fact that her heart was breaking._

_The Suna nin all knelt. “Long Live the Kazekage!”_

_Kankuro sat up and nodded at them before he closed his eyes and gave Gaara’s forehead a kiss._

* * *

_Neji fell into her arms. His breath warm and staggered as his blood-soaked her hands while she valiantly tried to stop it._

_“I finally understand the freedom my father felt when he chose to die for someone he loved.” Neji’s voice was growing weaker. Hinata and his team converged around them. “I get to give my life for two people that I love so much… my cousin who was more a sister to me and who stood by me despite my cruel actions and… and the woman I love for setting me free and showing me another path to life.”_

_She gasped as she held him tighter. Her eyes seeking Hinata’s who didn’t seem shocked by his words._

_“Lee, Ten Ten, thank you for putting up with me.” He called her name, and Hinata’s._

_“Both of you. Promise… promise me you’ll live and have a good life.”_

_“I promise.” They both said. His body became slack in her hands and then Lee’s scream pierced the air._

* * *

_Sasuke appeared in her office, clutching her son to his chest. Shikamaru dropped the papers in his hands as the two of them bolted to their son. Sasuke had collapsed beside him._

_“Kaa-san? Tou-san?” He asked before his eyes closed forever. Too fast for her to heal. Her son, her first born was dead but she couldn’t grieve there was still…_

_She turned to her best friend, but he was bleeding out so much, calling the yin-yang release up, she tried to heal him, but he began to scream in pain and… oh Sage… his chakra was… “There was one last Otsutsuki. He… he set off the time bomb.”_

_“An…another?” She breathed out._

_“Dead. I killed him but he… did something… our chakra turned in on us. Ripped it and…”_

_“Alright… just save your strength. I’ll get your report later.”_

_Sasuke died in the hospital two days later. Chakra healing was ruled out since it seemed to worsen his condition. All they could do was watch him deteriorate. She had him buried in between Itachi and Sakura who had died of chakra exhaustion during the Otsutsuki war, a medic to the last._

* * *

Tsubaki whimpered in her sleep, waking briefly before falling back asleep. Naruto Uzumaki had been accustomed to dark memories and thoughts, to countless nights filled with nightmares and that meant that Tsubaki was too. Her hand automatically reaching for the crystal necklace that had once belonged to Hashirama Senju and then to his grandchildren, and eventually to Naruto. The warmth and love that had surrounded Naruto in her later years had seeped into the crystal well enough that it no longer just held the bijuu at bay but now had the power to soothe Tsubaki as warmer, happier memories flooded into her dreams.

* * *

_“Itachi! What are you doing?” His brother stood there, a bloodied sword in his hand and their father’s body falling to the floor. And then… “Forgive me Sasuke.” Itachi was dead._

_And… the Edo Tensei. “I am and always will be proud of you. I love you.” Itachi’s body crumbled as his soul was set free._

_Naruto, young and smiling. “Come on, Teme. Let’s go home.”_

_But Sasuke was too new, too unused to the corrupting influence of the cursed seal, too consumed by his need for revenge that. “Usuratonkatchi.” He called out; hand lit with the Chidori. He struck as soon as she had turned to face him._

_“Sasuke.” Her voice strangled and pitched before she fell into his arms._

_Sakura, low on chakra but still so determined to save lives. To save **his**_ _life that she burned out and died from exhaustion. A smile on her face as she lay beside him._

_Aiko’s too small body wrapped in an unfinished blanket her mother had lovingly begun to knit the day she had discovered she was pregnant, as the baby was buried in a grave marked only by the mighty tree that grew over it, known only to a select few._

_Shikadai, young and untested in what was supposed to be a relatively safe mission (time bomb notwithstanding), screaming. “UNCLE SASUKE!!!” His small body quivering from where it had been impaled in a mocking parody of what he, himself, had done to the boy’s mother at that age. His chakra first turning in on him, poisoning and destroying his skin before it was drained from him. The mad scramble to get to the boy, and then later, heavily injured. To take his godson to his parents, even if it was going to be for the last time._

* * *

Katsuki’s mangekyo activated as he awoke from his dreams. He quickly deactivated it before quickly listing the truths that he knew of this life to remind him that his life as Sasuke was done. He was Bakugo Katsuki now. When he was done with that, he began to list all of the good things until he fell asleep again.

* * *

_Gaara’s sister was brought in to one of the tents that had been designated for Suna’s dead. His heart stopped as his strong, loving sister lay pale. A hole in her stomach from where she had been impaled like all the others. The ring Shikamaru had given her when he had proposed still gleaming, a twisted reminder of what would never be._

_And… his heart-stopping as Kurama turned to him and begged him to take Naruto to her father before she was ejected from the Kyuubi’s form, the Bijuu unwilling to let her get sucked in with him. He remembered sending his sand to catch her, but it was too late. She was dead and even in his desperate rush through the battlefield to the Yondaime Hokage, even as Sakura manually pumped her heart and breathed for her, he hoped and doubted at the same time. He remembered their first kiss on his inauguration day and the few they’ve shared since. He felt the desolation hit him as the Zetsu stole the Yondaime’s half because she’s dead. There’s no hope. She’s gone._

* * *

Shoto sprang up, tears in his eyes and heart aching. What? He touched his face. “I don’t understand. Why am I crying? I don’t even… it was just a dream.”

He took a few calming breaths, willing his heart to stop hurting as he thought of other things. Happier things to no avail. He finally fell asleep an hour before the sun rose.

* * *

Tsukauchi looked around the people in the Nara’s meeting room two days after they had first met, Kabuto and the Uraraka girl were noticeably absent. The atmosphere grim as they all stared at him for an answer. “She was right. The coffin was empty.”

Orochimaru came forward with his findings next. “There were six different DNA’s in the Nomu. Three of whom we were able to trace easily. They belonged to deceased heroes. The other three were still working on it but they’re likely civilians given their lack of presence in the database.”

He placed the folders containing the hero files on the table in front of them. “It’s likely there are more Nomus’ out there.”

Tsukauchi shuddered at the thought before he opened the profiles. This was not good. All three were famous early heroes from the pre-licensure period who were drafted over and given their licenses due to their experiences. He suddenly felt like he was staring at a mountain as he realized just how big this discovery was and just how large of a problem this was.

“I’m grateful for any support you can give.” He said.

Lord Nara sighed. “You’ll have my full backing. We already have someone on the ground.”

* * *

Kurama stared at his siblings. "I'm going to stick around for a while."

"Are you sure? It's only going to hurt more being this close to them and being unable to interact with them." Chomei said worriedly.

"And they're civilians who are living normal lives. They won't remember you or even know who you are." Son pointed out.

He shook his head. "I know. But at least I'll be close by if she needs me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the Shirakumo/Kurogiri reveal happened way earlier. I figure that the Yamanaka techniques slightly influenced the Uzumaki chains which kind of incorporated it into its bloodline so now mind-reading chains are a thing. Another U.A. student joins the intense training sessions of our favorite trio, RIP Uraraka, you asked for this. 
> 
> With Tsubaki taking the lead and showing off her abilities, Shigaraki and All for One came to the conclusion that she was All Might's apprentice which means that they're going to be focusing on her instead of Izuku. I've had that scene with the ceiling and the chains in my mind since I began this story, that and the Shirakumo reveal. The death scenes were something I've been thinking off since about chapter 3 and Uraraka joining the training session this early on was unexpected. She was supposed to join later on but I thought, maybe some bonding time with Deku would be good. What did you guys think of Kabuto's return? Finally, Kurama and Co have the wrong impression when he believes that Katsuki and Tsubaki are innocent civilians. Let me know what you guys think.
> 
> Anyway, last chapter of the year. Happy New Year! May 2021 treat you kinder, fairer, and gentler than the shit storm that was 2020 did. And as always, stay healthy and safe!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cute Todoroki sibling moment, Uraraka gets a new place, and a person from Tsubaki's past makes an appearance as well as a mention of another one that will be returning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own BNHA or Naruto. Just putting it out there.

The day after the attack saw Tsubaki in Konoha’s only hospital prepping for major surgery. The smell of the medical-grade disinfectants and the sterile white of the room reminded her so much of Tsunade, Sakura, and Shizune. This had been their domain.

Tsubaki looked up at Toshinori Yagi as he was ushered into the operating room wearing a hospital gown. Normally the patient would’ve been wheeled in, but he had decided against it. She looked up and saw Recovery Girl watching from the observation deck, pen, and paper in hand. This was going to be a delicate procedure as she and Orochimaru worked on replacing all the organs that had been destroyed while simultaneously keeping the man alive. Kabuto was assisting them in the surgery. The organs were all being replaced with those that Orochimaru had cloned and grown inside his lab, which wasn’t that hard for a man that had once had two cloned sons. Tsubaki’s chakra was going to be applied continuously throughout the surgery and even post-op to ensure that nothing would go wrong.

Once their patient was knocked out, the long surgery began.

* * *

“Oh, Hey Shinso, Kendo!” Ochako greeted her year mates. They turned to her, wide-eyed and bewildered. Hatsume rushed in, hair askew and grease stains on her shirt.

“What are you doing here, Uraraka?” Shinso asked as he began his stretches. He was glancing around wearily. Kendo and Hatsume followed suit.

Ochako beamed at them. “Oh, I asked Tsubaki-chan to train me, so I’ll be joining you guys from now on.”

They were looking at her as though she was mad as Kendo began coughing. “You actually asked for this?”

The dojo door slid open and Bakugo-kun entered looking like the devil with his malicious smile and glinting red eyes, dressed all in black… oh wait, that was how he usually was. She suppressed a whimper as doubts began to form in her mind.

* * *

“What exactly is your original quirk anyway?” Tsubaki asked her teacher as she finished the last round of check-ups. She would ideally like to keep him in for a longer observation than just the six hours he had been in the hospital, but the man was stubborn, and she had healed him too well.

Yagi-sensei looked up from where he was eating a small portion of pasta and cream soup in wonder. He took a bite and let out a sound of appreciation at not feeling any pain for the first time in years. “Oh, I didn’t have one.”

Tsubaki’s pen broke. “One for All was your only quirk?” She asked slowly and watched as he nodded. “Your basically quirkless now?” She said just to clarify.

“Almost fully quirkless.”

Tsubaki counted to five as she pinched her nose and sighed. “Don’t eat too much or too fast, your body will need time to get reacquainted to real food again.” She scolded as she wrote a small cyphered note about his soon to be quirkless status and began to think of his PT regiment.

“You’ll need physical therapy.” She told him. Yagi-sensei looked up in shock. The blue of his iris set against his otherwise black sclera shown with some dissatisfaction. “This was still major surgery. Besides… I’m planning on at least getting you some muscle tone and strength within the next few months. And I’m planning to do it through the Green Beast’s way.” She said with a malicious smile.

Her teacher gulped and shrank back into the stark white bedsheets before letting out a small whimper.

* * *

“I know what we went through the other day was a trying time, so I want you all to know that I am open and willing to listen to you guys if you need to vent. Or I can refer you to a good counselor.” Tsubaki tells her classmates as soon as they were all gathered in their classroom waiting for homeroom to begin.

“That’s lame. I’ve never heard of a hero that goes to therapy!” Mineta cried out.

Tsubaki turned to him. “There’s nothing wrong with getting therapy, as heroes, they experience truly frightening things every day, and not seeking help could end very badly. Burn out, severe PTSD… if they’re not careful they may lose sight of who they are and what they’re fighting for and eventually become the villains themselves. Mental health is just as important as your physical strength.” She told them firmly. _‘And hopefully, whatever counselor gets Grape Boy can set him on a straight path before he ends up in prison for being such a perv.’_ She told her boys mentally.

 _‘I’m not holding my breath for that.’_ Kacchan replied.

 _‘That would take a literal miracle.’_ I-kun confessed.

The bell rang and everyone rushed to their seats just in time to see Aizawa-sensei open the door. “Good job on surviving the villain attack.” He says by way of greeting as he strides in. Eyes scanning the whole class, lingering on her boys before resting on her. “And Bakugo-chan is right. There’s nothing wrong with seeking a counselor for your experience. In fact, Principal Nezu would like all of you to at least see one for an assessment.”

* * *

Katsuki sighed as he stared at his sister who was bent over the table, calligraphy brush in hand as she carefully dipped it into the ink and before gently and slowly adding another character. Spread out around her are calculations he could barely understand. They were in their parents’ house, an event that was becoming increasingly scarce, especially since their parents had decided to move back home to the Nara Estate. These were to be the last days that they would be spending in their childhood home, much the same as Izuku and Auntie Inko were doing in their apartment.

The divorce papers were finally signed, and the ink was dry, something that had been almost a decade in the making since that _man_ had abandoned his wife and son at the discovery of Izuku’s quirkless nature. Katsuki snorted. No one had bothered to inform Midoriya Hisashi about his son’s new quirk or his mentor. Let the man try to come crawling back, the Nara was ready for him. It was a well-known fact that neither of their grandparents had liked Hisashi and had barely tolerated it for Auntie Inko’s sake. Now that man wouldn’t be able to get anywhere close to them.

Tsubaki cursed softly. He stared and recognized that at least part of the seal dealt with time. “Dare I ask, what are you doing?”

“I’m working on a seal to accelerate time to a precise amount.”

“Why?”

The brush was laid down on a clean tray as his sister looked him dead in the eyes. “I’m trying to break the time freeze on Toneri.”

Who? He was sure he had heard that name before. “Otsutsuki Toneri.” She added. He stared at her, trying to see if she was just joking but, no. She wasn’t. An Otsutsuki? Why was she trying to awaken one of those accursed beings?

“He kidnapped Hanabi and tried to force Hinata into marrying him.” She clarified. And she wanted to rescue him?

“If it helps, I want to save him because he’s a remnant like us. Who knows what it’ll be like in nine thousand or so years? He’s alone up there. And besides. He tried and did manage to, warn up about the Otsutsuki. He was the reason why we weren’t caught completely off guard.” She added.

And, okay. That made him slightly better in his books and a part of him could sympathize at the thought of being so alone. He gave another sigh and sat beside his sister. “What can I do?”

* * *

“Are these the last of it, Uraraka-chan?” Deku asked as he lifted the box like it was nothing. Ochako glanced around her now-empty apartment and nodded. The Nara family barely even blinked before agreeing to let her rent an apartment within Konoha’s borders and her parents had jumped at the safer neighborhood for their only child. It wasn’t that she was in a bad part of town to begin with but… she was only a block or two away from it and her parents tended to worry about her living on her own. This would at least give them some peace of mind. There was the added benefit of Hatsume Mei becoming her next-door neighbor. The other girl was also from Kyoto and had been given an apartment within the village in order to keep her apprenticeship up.

“Thank you for helping, Deku, Bakugo-kun” She said thanking both boys with a bow. Bakugo-kun grunted and walked out the door and into the waiting car while Deku gave her a smile that sent her heart fluttering. They had grown closer over the last few weeks as she had begun to train with them. It was brutal and hellish just as she had been warned and the look that Tsubaki-chan’s three friends had sent her when she had told them that she had asked to be there had been one that had said that she was crazy.

Her parents picked her up sore but otherwise healthy, Tsubaki-chan’s quirk healing all the bruises that she had acquired. This was going to be her day to day now. She stayed silent through the car ride back to the Estate and was let out into an apartment near the village square.

Tsubaki-chan was there wearing the sleeveless orange kimono top over mesh armor and long black tights with (what she has come to know as) shinobi sandals that she favored in the village. Ochako had discovered that the kasa hat and white haori that their grandfather wore was traditionally worn to signify the leader of the village. The Hokage and from the first to whatever number Lord Nara was, all of them had been of Senju blood or had married one of its ranks, as well as having the lineage of apprenticeship that spanned from the First who had helped his younger brother the Second train his students and said students founded an unbroken educational lineage.

“Uraraka Ochako.” Her friend said seriously, she stood straight and at the ready. “I, Bakugo Tsubaki, Hokage-elect, do welcome you into Konoha. Your petition for residency has been approved.” She said as she handed her a packet of identifications and formal documents that she needed to have to live within the borders.

She found some documents for her parents, a visa of sorts. While this was still part of Japan, it was also considered a legal entity on its own, not quite a nation-state or a principality but more independent than a city. They had their own police force, communication infrastructure, electricity, health care system, education system, and they were self-sufficient.

And to think, her friend would one day oversee this whole community. She had been confused at first because Tsubaki-chan was a girl and had a twin brother who was born a full twelve minutes before she was, and it hadn’t been until Deku had explained that the family had all decided that Tsubaki would be the best fit because as ‘Kacchan’ had said, he wasn’t quite suited for the bureaucratic and diplomatic work the title entailed. And their mother didn’t have chakra so that had ruled her out immediately.

Ochako bowed to the girl and smiled. “Thank you, Bakugo-san.”

* * *

“Who fits the role of class parents?” Hanta-kun asked out loud. Izuku looked up from his phone to turn to the dark-haired teen.

“Wouldn’t Aizawa-sensei automatically be the class’ dad?” Ashido-chan asked, head tilted as she glanced at their classmates speculatively.

Hanta-kun shook his head. “Sensei is a given. But no. I mean among our classmates.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Ashido replied. “As class reps, the position clearly falls to Yaoyorozu and Iida.”

Izuku decided that the conversation would be over, so he decided to return to his browsing of All Might merch, his shopping cart already indicating twelve items when…

“I think it’s Tsubaki-chan and Bakugo-kun.” Uraraka disagreed. Izuku’s head whipped up and he stared at the girl incredulous.

Asui hmmed and tapped a finger to her chin. “I can see Tsubaki-chan. She’s always so calm and cheerful, always ready to give encouragements but Bakugo-kun…”

Kirishima shook his head. “No, Baku-bro is totally the class dad. If you take away the cursing and ignore his threats, then there’s no real heat to his words. He comes off as a strict and gruff dad who’s a total softie underneath.”

And yeah, Izuku could kind of see what they were getting at. Tsuchan was indulgent and often gave positive reinforcement. She was quick to smother and comfort their classmates but also knew when to be tough. Kacchan might curse and yell a lot but he scolded and comforted in turn. He was strict about what needed to be done but always took the time to help teach the others, even if he wasn’t the most patient. But above all, they had the _look_ and _tone_ that every parent would give their child. The ones that said confess your sins; I know what you did! And I’m so disappointed in you, what do you have to say for yourself?

(Uraraka thought it was because of their experiences running Konoha, and that was a part of it, but not the full story). Izuku knew it was because they had been parents in their previous life.

“Huh, Bakugo-kun really is a tsundere.”

Izuku choked and almost broke his phone. The door to the classroom opened three seconds later with the twins coming in with their quiz sheets.

* * *

Shoto froze as Tsubaki’s full attention was brought down on him. Rather than being on the opposite sides during this training, the blonde was now his teammate. From the side, he could see her twin glaring at him as though he were the devil himself.

“Are you okay, Todoroki?” She asked as she leaned forward, a hand going to his forehead. He felt her energy _‘chakra’_ his mind whispered. Before he involuntarily shivered at the feel of her warm and gentle chakra flowing through his body. “Since I don’t know what you’re normal body temperature is, I can’t tell if this is normal for you, considering one side of you is ice and the other is fire but you don’t appear to be sick.”

Sero frowned from where he was standing off to the side as they waited for their turn in the next simulation. “How’d you know he had fire abilities? He hasn’t used them so far.” That was a good question. He flicked his eyes to the girl who had pulled her hand away.

“When his brother and I were kidnapped, he would tell me all about his little brothers and sister to get my mind off the situation. Quirks naturally came up but never in the presence of our kidnappers.” She explained as she handed him some water. It seemed hydration was her solution to everything. “Oh wow.” She said as she blinked. “I didn’t realize your other eye was grey!” She said as she leaned in closer.

Shoto pulled back as the hairs on his skin rose and his eyes met the murderous gaze of Bakugo Katsuki even as his cheeks flushed. Sero snorted from the side. “What was your plan, Bakugo-chan?” He asked her, hoping to avoid more close contact.

“Oh, right! Well, I was thinking that we can…” As she leaned forward, eyes glancing at Kirishima, Jiro, and Shoji’s group, she began to explain their latest simulation. It seemed she was going to put the hero team through their paces.

* * *

He was right. Tsubaki had set up an assortment of traps, non-lethal and definitely prank based. As he saw the three members of the hero team stumble into their ‘lair’ dripping orange paint and trailing chicken feathers, Shoto had to wonder how much of a troublemaker the female Bakugo twin had been as a child.

Dropping down onto a fighting stance, he began to move towards Shoji, ice forming around him. From the side, he saw his two teammates begin to engage the other heroes, Kirishima taking on Tsubaki and Sero fighting against Jiro. He heard a crash and saw a hole from where his female teammate had flung Kirishima through a wall, stance still alert before he forced himself to return to his own match. As the twins and Midoriya had often pointed out, he was far too reliant on his quirk so he resolved to fight less with his quirk and more with hand to hand, only truly relying on it at the last minute when Shoji was in place. Ice wrapping around his opponent the moment he slipped.

He could already tell that he (and his classmates) had all improved in terms of combat abilities despite the fact that they had only had a handful of after school training, but it wasn’t enough for Kirishima to win against Tsubaki, yet.

He wasn’t even surprised when he heard All Might announce them as the winner of the training session. His heart thudded as she threw him a blinding smile. “The two of you did great! And Todoroki,” She said as she turned to him, patting him on the shoulder. “I noticed you barely used your quirk this time around. That’s a great progression since you already have such a great mastery of your quirk, I was beginning to worry you had neglected the more physical aspects of a fight which would be bad if you were fighting against someone like Aizawa-sensei.”

He could understand, he would be dead if he fought against someone like Eraserhead who specialized in hand-to-hand combat and had the ability to cancel his quirk. He nodded his head. She was a good teacher, certainly a sight better than Endeavor. She (well the trio actually) would have them go through mock battles where they were all thoughtfully paired together before giving them gentle critiques about their forms and showing them some moves they could incorporate based on their fighting styles and their quirks. They weren’t immediately pushed to their limits, at least for now.

Shoto glanced at his blonde classmate and then to Sero who was already so far ahead of them, rushing to Kirishima and Kaminari no doubt. Despite the distance he still lowered his voice to reduce the risk of getting overheard. There was one question that had been plaguing him ever since she had mentioned that Touya had told her about them. “What else did Touya tell you about?”

Tsubaki glanced at him. “He told me about your mother and when he thought I was asleep, I heard him talk about how you got that scar but mostly, he talked about how much you all needed him, how you were all still too young to fend for yourselves.” She eyed him from the corner of her eyes before she smiled. “He loves you and your siblings so much.”

Shoto already knew that last part. How much had Touya-nii and Fuyumi-nee sacrificed to raise him? And even Natsuo had played a large role in how he had grown up. He couldn’t imagine what life would’ve been like if his eldest brother hadn’t been there to try and make the house lighter and happier for him.

He slowed down walking when he realized that Tsubaki had stopped right outside the door, a smile on her face as she stared at her brother and Midoriya standing with their backs to each other and talking to small groups of their classmates. Was she jealous? No, she was smiling.

“Are you alright, Bakugo-chan?” He asked her worried. The blonde nodded and turned to him with a sunshine bright grin as the next groups were announced. It seemed like her brother and Midoriya were fighting against each other again.

“Call me Tsubaki. And yes, I’m alright. Better than that!” She began as she stepped into the viewing room to lean against the wall as the groups left. “I’m just happy that my boys are making friends… as open as I-kun was, his circle of friends just consisted of Kacchan and I, the others were just acquaintances. And my brother… he only really associated with three other people, the rest he just blew off. And now… I can see them forming bonds and it’s… it’s lovely.”

“And you?”

She turned to him, red eyes flashing curiously and for a moment he imagined them turning blue. “Did you have that problem?”

Pale blonde hair flew as she shook her head with a small laugh, the scent of orange blossoms and jasmine wafted over but there were also small traces of ramen in her scent. Unsurprising given how frequently she ate it but there was something about that scent that was tugging at his mind. “I never had any problems with that. It’s always been so easy for me to connect with others. The problem was knowing when to let go.”

Memories of a blonde woman dressed in the plain black shinobi gear crying in front of a memorial rose into his mind and he willed them all away to focus on the girl in front of him. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“You would think that.” She said bitterly. “But my brother would disagree.”

* * *

“You know, your intense and focused hatred of Todoroki hasn’t gone unnoticed.” Deku said as they were walking back to the observation room.

Deku stepped over some of the fallen concrete from the building that they had demolished without any trouble. Katsuki grunted feeling his blood boil at the thought of that half-and-half bastard. “Something about him just rubs me the wrong way. Like he offended me in a past life or something.”

The green-haired boy stopped. “You don’t think he _did_ offend you in a past life, do you?”

“Who knows.” He said with a shrug. “He must not have been that important or I might have just killed him immediately for the impudence because he’s not ringing any bells.”

“Of course, you did, Kacchan.” Deku said with a sigh.

* * *

_Sasuke stood in front of the Kazekage, a scroll in his hand. One written in Naruto’s own hand. Given the fact that the red-head hadn’t contacted nor replied to any of his sister’s letters in the last two years since they had parted, he had volunteered to deliver this one in person. He idly wondered what would have happened if Aiko had survived and Naruto had been forced to send a letter to inform Gaara instead. How would that have turned out? Would this man that had claimed to love his sister so fiercely have even bothered to read the letter and claim his lover and child? Or would he have just ignored her letters and abandon them?_

_Well… now was the time to find out. The scroll had Kakashi’s personal Hokage seal on it, but the writing was all Naruto’s. The only way to get him to read this invitation apparently. He watched as the Kazekage winced slightly before his face became devoid of all emotions, so like the cold and emotionless psychopathic killer that they had first met all those years ago. The person that his sister had worked hard to help, that she had given herself to, body and soul once upon a time._

_“What is it, Gaara?” Kankuro asked, stance shifting as he approached him worriedly, sand whipped out before the red-head took a steadying breath._

_“Apologies, brother.” So he wasn’t unaffected by this. Interesting._

_Sasuke turned to face the older of the sand brothers. “Naruto and Shikamaru are getting married, that’s an invitation to their wedding.” He said casually._

_Kankuro grimaced. “Gaara…”_

_“Well?” Sasuke asked._

_“Well, what?” Gaara echoed back._

_“Aren’t you going to stop it?”_

_“Why would I do that?”_

_“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you love her?” And by the Sage. Never in a million years would he have imagined that he would be here interfering in Naruto’s love life, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And his sister deserved to marry for love. “Or were you just playing with her feelings until you could get her into your bed and then just leave her high and dry?”_

_Sand whipped about the room and Kankuro stepped back in fear despite the anger blazing in his eyes at the accusation that Sasuke had just thrown. He didn’t care though. His eyes were on the Kazekage whose hands slammed onto the desk in front of him._

_“Need I remind you of your place, Uchiha? And of whom you speak to?” There was a note of warning in his tone and he could feel the KI coming from the man in front of him. “Don’t belittle how I feel about her. Nor should you say that I was only using her. She is the only woman I have ever loved, and she will always be.”_

_“Then why don’t you fight for her?” He demanded because his sister deserved the world after all the bad hands she’d been dealt with in her life. “Why didn’t you answer her letters?”_

_“Because I can’t let her go if I did that. I can’t and won’t force her to give up her dreams and distancing myself would be the only way to stop myself from just stealing her away and starting a war.”_

_Gaara sat back down as the sandstorm that had been threatening to brew calmed down. Sasuke didn’t stop glaring even though he nodded as he was asked to leave. What an utter mess. But at least he knew that if Aiko had lived and been carried to full term unless Naruto had made the journey with the babe (doubtful given that his niece would’ve needed constant care to help her in those first few months if what Tsunade had said was correct) or Gaara had been coerced into coming to Konoha, there would’ve been no way for the Kazekage to even know of his child._

_On one hand, hearing the man’s reasoning, he could understand that but the larger part of him. The one that had always been a large part of his feelings when it came to Naruto, the feelings and instincts that had only grown since the Sage’s revelation and their fight was indignant and frothing at the mouth at the offense against his sister. He wasn’t likely to be forgiving the Kazekage any time soon or ever for not fighting for her. And that was without counting the fact that the man had left his sister unwed and pregnant when he had left her._

* * *

_Naruto had personally taught all of her descendants the delicate art of fuinjutsu and true to their lineage, they had taken to it like ducks to water. But one of her great-grandchildren had shown the most talent for this. Her sweet Himawari. As vibrant as the flower she was named for who had inherited her resolve and cheerful personality (not to mention her eyes, strength, and talent for fuinjutsu), Sakura’s aptitude and passion for iryo-jutsu, Kiba’s senses, and Hinata’s byakugan._

_Orphaned young and her parents’ only child, it was Naruto and an elderly Shikamaru who had taken her in and raised her within the main house of the Nara lands. Their home had always been surrounded by love and support from all sides. And the children under their care had all blossomed into the best people possible._

_And Himawari... she was a skilled fighter who much preferred healing to killing but wouldn’t hesitate to do so should the situation call for it. Naruto had taken great pride in nurturing that peaceful spirit and instilling in all of the children that were under her care the importance of diplomacy and of just talking things out first (so contrary to how she had been as a child)._

_Another thing she had stressed that experimental seals would have to be run through her first or at least reviewed by a few other seal masters before they were trialed to reduce if not completely eliminate the risks. Himawari had been very good at following this until she wasn’t._

_And as Naruto and Shikamaru had walked into their courtyard one day, she had seen Himawari standing in the middle of an unfamiliar seal array with components she had knew very well from her own hiraishin experimentations and from her work on Toneri’s seal. She quickly snatched the notes from the ground, thrusting them into her husband’s hands before starting to run, mouth opening to stop Himawari from activating the array but before anything could be said, Himawari had turned around, eyes widening at the sight of her and her hand faltered, but the damage was already done as a bright glow engulfed the courtyard and an explosion rattled Konoha._

_She and Shikamaru had been blown away but they had managed to land on their feet. “Himawari?” She called out before clearing her throat and trying again, voice going louder with every repetition as she made her way to where her granddaughter had been standing only to find a small crater and scorched earth, flecks of blood splattered the ground. Her voice became more desperate as Shikamaru’s joined hers for a few minutes before he pulled her up and into his arms as she cried into his chest._

_Himawari’s funeral was held two days later after Naruto confirmed that she hadn’t felt her great granddaughter’s presence anywhere within the Elemental Nations nor the thread of chakra that she had sealed into each of her descendants at birth that always told her that they were alive._

* * *

_“I’m sorry but there was nothing I could do about Uchiha’s status.” Gaara said apologetically as he approached her. Eyes focusing on the strained smile on her face before going to the damp stains on her clothes from where she had knelt and begged for Sasuke Uchiha’s life from the Raikage himself._

_She shook her head and grabbed his hands. “I know and I’m not going to ask you to jeopardize your village and its standing. This is something for me to fix.”_

_Gaara frowned, hatred welling in him as he thought of all the wrongs that Uchiha had done against Naruto before allowing himself to be pulled into an embrace. The shuffling of feet told him that their companions were at least giving them some modicum of privacy. “It’s not up to you to fix the mistakes of other people, especially not Uchiha.” And oh, how his heart seemed to tighten at the thought of how she had supposedly been brought back to the village by Kakashi with many believing her to be dead or close to it and scattering about trying to make preparations for what they believed was the inevitable escape of the Kyuubi. He breathed in the scent of orange blossom and jasmine before he felt her lips press against his just as she had done on the day of his inauguration and the few times she had come for a visit since then._

_He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, remembering the one they had shared when he had woken from his own death after the Akatsuki had kidnapped him. He remembered waking up with his head in her lap feeling the patter of her tears as it fell on his face._

_Gaara pulled away regretfully as he thought of all the things that still needed to be done especially now that war was going to begin._

* * *

Shoto sat up and turned on the lights with a sigh. The dreams had been getting more and more vivid though there was a thankful lack of deep intimacy since that day that Tsubaki had hugged him. The sound of running water let him know that either Natsuo or Touya had arrived from their late-night partying or working and was now washing up. Fuyumi was presumably asleep after a night spent grading homework.

“Why are you still up, Sho?” Touya-nii’s voice rang from outside his door as it slid open. “Did you have another one of those dreams?”

“It’s more of, when _don’t_ I have those dreams.” Shoto replied as his brother stepped inside dressed in dark blue jogging pants and a matching sweatshirt.

“It’s gotten that bad. Why don’t you go see a doctor?” The feel of his older brother’s fingers running through his hair calmed him much as it had in his younger years. His brother had often become so busy in recent years that they had barely been able to spend much time together. Apart from the few evenings he’d been at home when school began, the last that they had truly been able to talk, just the two of them, had been when he had expressed doubts about becoming a hero.

That was when Touya had told him about his own dreams, those dreams that had been hopelessly crushed when he was told that his body couldn’t handle his flames. That was also when his brother had told him the truth, about how he had lashed out and once tried to kill him when he had only been a baby. He remembered how his brother had apologized to him but Shoto had waved it off because he had never once felt an ounce of fear around his brother, never felt anything but love and comfort in all those years and that meant so much more than a lost child whose dreams had been crushed and hadn’t been given the reassurance he needed.

_“If you don’t want to be a hero then don’t. I’ll love and support you no matter what. Even against Father.” Touya-nii had told him with a smile._

_Shoto remembered smiling back and shaking his head. “I want to be! And I’ll be a hero you can be proud of, and I’ll fulfill both of our dreams.” He had told his older brother._

Shoto heard a door open and footsteps heading this way. Natsuo’s head peeked in and smiled when he caught sight of the two of them on Shoto’s futon. Natsuo plopped down on Shoto’s other side, light and soft footsteps followed as Fuyumi entered the room. She grinned at the sight before squealing.

“Baby snuggle bug cuddle pile!” She said as Shoto winced at her poor naming skills.

Touya-nii sighed while Natsuo laughed. “Call it what it is, a sleepover in Shoto’s room, not that kiddie nickname!”

Fuyumi-nee wasn’t listening and had already rushed out of the room and down the stairs presumably to the kitchen to get some snacks and drinks. Touya-nii and Natsuo stood up too to get some extra beddings while Shoto lay back down. Sibling sleepovers had largely fallen by the wayside by the time he had turned ten when he had claimed that he was too old for it but the rare few times that it happened was always enjoyable. They had begun after Touya had come home from the kidnapping as a way for them to reassure themselves that he was really back.

Within ten minutes they were all laying down with snacks strewn between them, Touya to his left and Fuyumi to his right. Natsuo was on Fuyumi’s other side, beside the wall. “So, what’s bothering you tonight, Sho?” Fuyumi-nee asked as she munched on some pocky.

“He’s been having those dreams again.” Touya-nii told them when he didn’t answer. Their brother’s white hair seeming paler in the moonlight.

“Still? I thought that those dreams stopped?” Fuyumi-nee asked with a frown.

Shoto sighed. They had started right around the same time Touya had returned and they disappeared for a while when he was ten and only appeared as infrequent dreams until he turned twelve and then they returned, not necessarily with a vengeance but they had happened at least twice a week and then it turned into every night one day when he was fourteen and hadn’t left him since. Not since the first time he dreamt of getting kissed.

“They did for a while but they came back when I was twelve but that was just once or twice a week. It started happening every night a few months ago.”

“Oh, Sho.” Fuyumi sighed as she pushed his hair out of his face. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Shoto didn’t answer. “Could it be a past life?” Natsuo offered.

“You think I was a homicidal maniac in my past life?” He asked in a deadpan.

“Uh not really… maybe?” Natsuo grinned sheepishly. “But didn’t you say not all of those dreams involved blood and death?”

“A lot of them involved three people, two of them called me little brother and then there was…” He trailed off as he realized that he never really told them about the people in his dreams.

“Was?” Fuyumi prompted.

“A girl who was… bright like sunshine and always so happy. She always got back up no matter what was thrown her way and she always did it with a smile and a belief that everything was going to be okay. She was always…” He trailed off again as he blushed, the sly smiles on his older siblings' faces told him he may have shared enough.

“Always?”

“What’s this? Has our baby brother finally reached puberty?” Touya-nii teased. “Dreaming about women in your bed?”

Shoto spluttered but didn’t deny it. Natsuo sat up, glee written on his face. “You do dream about her in your bed.”

“I… it’s not like that. It was just once. She was always just kissing me or hugging me.”

Fuyumi grinned like the cat that caught the canary. “So, if we’re going by Natsuo’s theory then she was your wife in the past life.”

“No.” That much he knew of at least. “I remember watching her marry another. A lord who was engaged to the older sister of my supposed other life before her death.”

“Oh, Shoto.” Fuyumi-nee grabbed him in a crushing hug, rubbing her cheek to his.

“She was a skilled warrior, and I was a high enough ranking soldier.” _‘I think’_. “But she was royalty, and I was sworn to a rival Daimyo.”

The hug tightened. “Well. Maybe this is your second life and a second chance to find your princess again.” His sister was really one for romantics. He heard a sniff and saw Natsuo rubbing furiously at his eyes. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t just Fuyumi.

“We’ll do our best to help you find your princess.” Touya-nii vowed.

“You really don’t have to do that.” Shoto said as he tried to push away his three siblings who had him trapped in a group hug.

* * *

Todoroki Enji slipped in through the door quietly and saw his children’s shoes all lined up perfectly as he removed his own. He blinked as he saw the opened doors to each of his room except his youngest, so he walked towards it first, barely glancing at the dark bedrooms before he slid the door open a crack and peeked in to see all four of his grown children in a tangle of limbs with Natsuo and Touya bracketing Shoto and Fuyumi. Touya’s posture was possessive and protective. He quietly slid the door shut and walked to his empty and quiet room.

* * *

“Hey, Shinso.” Uraraka called out as she walked towards the purple-haired insomniac. “I need your help.”

Shinso blinked and turned towards Itsuka who nodded. “What’s up?”

“I need you to use your quirk to get Mei to sleep.”

“Huh?”

“She hasn’t slept in days, has only eaten junk food, and has started to smell badly.”

Shinso thought back and realized that Hatsume was more disheveled and stinky than usual. The bags under her eyes were also enough to rival his. Whatever project she and Tsubaki were up to seemed important but at least the blonde had often stressed the importance of nutrition and proper sleep and hygiene, all three of which their pink-haired friend seemed to be flouting. Tsubaki had already left to deal with some things within the village so she would be no help in this.

“Sure.” He turned to the inventor who was already on her way out, no doubt to the lab, and stopped her. “Hey, Hatsume!”

The girl spun around. “Yeah?”

“Where are you heading off to?”

“To the lab…” The girl froze and her eyes glazed over.

Shinso stared at the girl. “Get some dinner, shower, put on some clean clothes, and go to sleep for at _least_ eight hours.”

“Yes, sir.” The girl said with a smile before walking away.

Itsuka laughed. “And you said your powers were evil. Look at you, using your quirk to take care of a friend.”

“Thanks, Shinso!”

He nodded his head and began to pack up the rest of his things and briefly considered going to the hot springs before shrugging it off. Right now, he just wanted to get some food. He walked with the other two girls through the forest that comprised the training ground and stared at the specks of light that the ancient trees allowed in when a bright flash appeared in front of them followed by a large gust of wind.

He was instantly on alert and he could see the other two were as well as they cautiously walked towards where the flash had appeared and found a black-haired girl bleeding badly on the ground. He cursed and checked her for other injuries, mentally debating whether or not to move her and risk spinal damage or chance letting her bleed out before help could arrive.

Thankfully Itsuka took that decision out of his hands as she began to make a makeshift stretcher and neck brace before Uraraka used her quirk to get her on the stretcher before they gently lifted it with Uraraka using her quirk to make it feather-light. They met Orochimaru just outside the hospital. His eyes widened when he caught sight of them.

He led them into the emergency room and called for one of the nurses to help him with the girl. The three of them stepped away from the girl and watched as the ancient Doctor paled dramatically at the sight of her face. The door swung open again and Tsubaki rushed in, eyes wide and an expression of brittle hope.

“Himawari.” She said quietly, hands reaching for the girl on the bed who was glowing green from Orochimaru’s healing technique.

Side by side, Himawari did look a great deal like Tsubaki. The girl opened her eyes to reveal beautiful blue eyes. “Great-grandmother?” The girl called out weakly.

“I’m here, Sweetheart.” Tsubaki answered back. Okay, what? “Grammie’s got you.” Seriously, just what? His eyes flittered to the two other girls who looked just as gob smacked at the sight before them. Tsubaki had some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... there were two people early on that I had decided were going to be part of the story and that was Toneri and a great-granddaughter but I only settled on Himawari when I realized that I wrote off that sweetheart. So she became cemented into the story. This will be a Toneri/Midnight pairing and I'm leaning towards Himawari/Tamaki just because I think it's the reverse dynamics of early Naruto/Hinata picks but I think Tamaki would be good with either Nejire or Togata too.
> 
> The nickname for their sleepovers is all based on their positions in the family. This means that any time they have a sleepover at Shoto's bedroom, as the youngest, Fuyumi always adds 'baby' to the start. Natsuo is 'little', Fuyumi is 'sister', and Touya is simply 'big'. So big snuggle bug cuddle pile. The boys hate that name but Fuyumi is adamant about using it.
> 
> The training buddies will be brought into the loop while Mei already knows everything because of her NDA. Uraraka has a part-time job in the village working for the clothing store she and Tsubaki went to. So, while I was writing this, I thought of two separate scenarios that I might make into a one shots. One what if where Touya wasn't there to help Tsubaki and she stays missing for ten years, and another what if about the war arc with the Konoha-nins added to it. Anyone interested in it? I'm kinda itching to write it but I don't know if you guys will like it and I need someone to bounce ideas off of! That's it for today. Stay safe, healthy, and warm!


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